


You'll Save Me From An Ocean Made Of Tears.

by SofiaIsChie



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Mermaids!au, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, all the romance and fluff here are going to give me diabetes, alternative universe mermaids, and SMUT, my cullavellans are going to love this, there is going to be a lot of angst, this gonna be amazing, this is so fluffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2018-10-22 10:54:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10695552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SofiaIsChie/pseuds/SofiaIsChie
Summary: Evaneil Lavellan is the princess of the mermaids, kind and gentle, the only problem is her curiousity for the human world.Cullen Rutherford id the prince and king to be of the Honneleath Kingdom, but he must get married.Maybe destiny wants them together, but a mermaid and a human can't be together, or can they?_______________________Alternative "The little mermaid" tale.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is a thing that came after i read the josei manga "Erotic Fairy Tales: The Little Mermaid" (Yes, you can guess what is it about), but i also got myself inspired by "Part of Your World" by CometEclipse (if you haven't read it yet, go and do it, it is one of the best Cullavellan fanfics that i have read).
> 
> Hope you all like thing and don't forget to leave kudos or comments.
> 
> Also, i must apologise for any errors, english is not my first lenguaje, but i'll apreciate any advices.

Today was a special day for the rulers of the waking sea. They would announce the engagement of their only child, princess Evaneil, who would marry the son of the King of the northern sea. They invited all of the mermaids of their kingdom, who were delighted to go.  
The only one who didn’t want to go was actually the princess. She had been all day inside her little room, preparing for whatever her parents had in mind. They hadn’t told her about the arrangement, they wanted to surprise her. But Evaneil hated those royal parties, hated to be a princess and hated the nobles who would come and try to gain some power.  
The mermaid dreamed about exploring the world, the world that was on the surface, but it was impossible, she was a mermaid.  
Her parents had warned her about the dangers that their kind had every time they got too close to the surface. She had witnessed it for herself.  
But it didn’t stop her curiosity for getting to know the human world. Sometime, some ships would drop stuff to the ocean, where she would collect them, on a small cave far from the castle.  
“Evaneil, are you ready?” One of the servants came to her room. She nodded and followed her to the main hall that was decorated with the most beautiful seaweed and sea flowers. Chains of pearls crossed the columns that held the palace. The most beautiful fishes swam, some has very bright colours and others had the strangest form.  
As she walked towards the altar were her parents were waiting for her, the mermaids made reverence, showing their respect. When Evaneil stood at her mother side, his father held his trident and spoke, “We all know that our kingdom is a prosper ocean, we have no conflicts with other nations of the sea, and the humans do not try to disturb us. The seaweed that grows all over the sea is what we need to survive, but there’s one thing more important than anything, and that keeps us living”. The King paused as he looked to his queen with only love in his eyes and then looked at his daughter with the same eyes. “That thing is love. We all know that we bond with one person for all eternity, and it is our duty to be with someone that will love us no matter what”.  
The king looked at the crown, where the king of the northern sea and his son were. They came forward, and the king grabbed the hand of her daughter, “I am very pleased to announce the engagement between the prince of the northern sea with my daughter, princess of the waking sea”, and so, the king lead Evaneil’s hand to the prince hand, who took it kindly.  
Oh creators please tell me that this is not happening, Evaneil thought. The crown clapped and celebrated, as she stood with her hand held by her future husband.  
“My lady, can we go out and talk”, the prince said, “I would truly like to get to know you better”.  
“Um…I-sorry… I mean, yes of course”, the future couple left the main hall and swam around the garden. There was a lot of awkward silence, until the prince started to speak.  
“My name is Herendil, and well, I have heard a lot about you”, he said as he looked at her with a smile.  
“I-um…I see”, the woman tried to find something to say, “I’ve heard a lot about your kingdom, but I have never get to see it by myself”.  
“Well, we can fix that as soon as we bond. But I must say that all the rumours about you don’t make you justice. They say that the princess of the waking sea is the most beautiful mermaid on all the seas, but I’m pretty sure that you are the most beautiful creature on the entire world”.  
“I- Thank you”, Evaneil had gotten used to it, to receive comments of how beautiful she was. They didn’t really affect her, but she found nothing about her that made her more beautiful than other mermaids. She had blond long hair and green eyes, but there were many other girls like her. It had become obvious to her that they only said those things to flirt with her.  
“Prince! Your father is waiting for you!” a servant called the man.  
“Well, well, it looks like we will have to wait until our wedding day to get to know each other”, she made a reverence to him, to say goodbye, but he got closer to her and held up her chin with his fingers, “That is just too polite for the man that will marry you soon”, and he touched her lips with his. Evaneil was in shook as he kissed her, she had no idea of what to do, but the kiss grow hungrily. As he separated his lips from hers, the prince made a smirk “I can’t wait to our wedding night, you are just too beautiful”.  
And he left, as Evaneil stayed in completely shook.  
________________________  
“As you can see, your grace, the fishing is going very well at this point of the year. We think that soon enough we’ll have a decent industry, and the kingdom will not have to buy to the other kingdoms at such a high price”, one of the captains said to the younger man that had been checking the port all day.  
“Those are really good news, and you all will have the support of the government”, the man said. The captain choked his hand thanking him.  
“Thank you prince Cullen, you will not be disappointed”. The prince left and rode his horse to the great castle where he lived. He had blond and curled hair, now styled, hazel eyes and didn’t look any older than he was.  
He was the prince of the Honneleath kingdom, and soon to be king of it. Cullen was very concerned about his new responsibilities, even though he didn’t really enjoyed the idea. His older sister Mia had married the king of another kingdom, something that didn’t allow her to be queen at her own nation; she would already have the responsibilities of her husband home place to take care of. So, the next one on the ruling line was Cullen, who had already made a name of himself at the army. He had fighting on the war against the Orlesian Empire, with the help of many other kingdoms like the Ferelden one.  
They came victorious, but at a high cost.  
The prince entered to the castle, were the servants were already expecting him. “Your grace, Princess Mia is requesting your attendance to a private meeting with the lady ambassador”. He nodded and walked to the council room, were his sister was waiting for him. Why would she need me right now? He wondered.  
He knocked at the door and heard her sister’s voice “Come in”. Mia was sitting at the table with many books and letters, while Lady Josephine was taking notes at her side. “Thank the Maker! You came as fast as you could”.  
“Is there something urgent?” The prince asked concerned.  
“Well- not urgent but- I-I don’t know how to say this”. Josephine touched Mia shoulder kindly and took the word.  
“There is a little matter right now, which has the nobles and us concerned. Prince, if I’m not mistaken, you are going to turn twenty eight in two months, and yet you haven’t got married yet”, so that was it, they were going to make him marry some noble lady that would be the new queen. “We fear that a king with no children would cause some instability in case a war starts again. If the ruler dies, without any heir to the throne, a civil war could take place”, he knew how bad a civil war could be, and there was no way he would force his people to pass through that.  
“All so, a queen is always necessary to have a stable government. She would have to take your place in case you can’t, and there are many responsibilities that the wife of a king has to their people”, Mia continued.  
Cullen crossed his arms, “So you are telling me that I should get married quickly, isn’t that right?” Mia negated.  
“We have decided that it is more important that you choose wisely a woman than choosing it as fast as possible. You need someone that you can share your responsibilities and that is going to be always by your side, in any circumstance”.  
“So you are giving me the possibility to marry someone I love?” he knew that most marriages were arranged, especially between the royalty. But his kingdom had forgotten that long time ago, because most of those marriages weren’t good for the kingdom, which mostly didn’t like the partners chosen.  
“You could say that, but it also can be someone you feel that would make a good queen and a good mother. The choice is yours, but please, start to think about it”, Mia concluded.  
Well, now he would have to start to search for one.

 

Cullen was playing chess with a friend of his, but he was really distracted that he was actually losing. His thoughts were all about the woman he would have to marry. What would she be like? The thought about Madelayne Travelyan, a noble woman that had been very close to him. She was beautiful, with a heart shape face, long curly dark hair and blue eyes, with rose cheeks and pink lips. Most of the nobility said that she was the most beautiful woman on the kingdom, and had said a lot of times of how good she would do as queen. Madelayne had feelings for him, it was pretty much obvious, and he admitted to himself to have a small crush on her, but his military career kept him too occupied to really do something about it. Maybe he should consider about speaking to her and get to know her better.  
“I’m winning this game, so you must be very, very distracted”, His friend said with his particular accent. Cullen reacted and apologised. ”No need to apologise my friend, but it seems like you are in a really big trouble”.  
“I wouldn’t say trouble, it is more like a problem I need to solve but no idea of how”. Dorian looked at him with curiosity in his eyes, telling him to continue, “It looks like the nobility is quite concern about me not being married yet, and now Mia is pressuring me more on the subject”.  
“And let me guess, you haven’t meet a woman you want to marry, have you?”.  
“There is Lady Madelayne, I’m not really interested on her right know, but I’ll try to get to know her better”, the Travelyan lady lived in the city, so he could invite her to come to the castle very often. The other man made a disgusted face, “Dorian, I know you don’t like her, but she is a kind person”.  
“Yes, if you compare her to the other noble women. I warn you, she may be pretty and seem kind, but I swear to you that under that face lives the devil’s wife”. Dorian had never like her, and he knew her true self, after all, they were distant cousins. “As your best friend I recommend you to search somewhere else, maybe the other kingdoms or even a commoner girl”.  
But Cullen had the impression that Dorian didn’t like her because she was a part of his family, and he had wanted nothing to do with them, what was the reason he came to live at his kingdom so many years ago. “If she is truly how you describe her, I would rather see it with my own eyes. Now, please let’s continue with the game”.


	2. Chapter 2

Evaneil left the palace in the middle of the night, no guard had noticed her. She hadn't been able to sleep since the party. She felt nervous and insecure, the prince had kissed her, and he had taken her first kiss. Or so she remembered. A strange feeling had came to her, like she had already kissed someone before that, but she couldn't recall when, where and with who was it. And girls remember their first kiss, right?  
Only the light of the white sun lighted the sea, and everything was calm. Evaneil swam far away from the palace, until she reached the small cave made out of coral. Her little hidden place.  
The cave had on the inside many human stuff, all collected by the woman. She would pass all day trying to find out what were they for, how did men used them. But tonight, she needed a safe place where to think.  
She laid on the ground, that was only illuminated by the white sun light that entered through the ceiling.  
She was going to get married soon, to the prince of the northern sea. "He is a good lad, he'll make you happy" her mother had said. Her parents told her that they had chosen that prince because he was gentleman would surely love her, and that she shouldn't worry, because she would learn to love him. But would she truly?   
She had been told that love was a warm feeling, one that could make people stupid things for the one they loved.   
The mermaids were specials, and love was what allowed them to live. A mermaid would only have one mate for life, someone that would return the love with the same intensity. Even thought, it was also a curse. When one of them fell in love, but it was one-sided, the pain of being rejected would be too horrible, so terrible, that a broken heart meant dead. Their body would turn in to seafoam, and would be dispersed around the entire ocean, becoming a part of it. That's why they had to be careful when falling in love, making sure that the feeling was corresponded. If she was going to get married, she should learn to love him, or either he would have a broken heart and die. But did he truly love her? Or was it desire?   
That kiss had been with so much desire, and yet it felt wrong. It felt so wrong, like a part of her wanted to leave and never return. That wasn't how she imagined her first kiss, or how other mermaids had talk about it. It the kisses were soft and caring, a wonderful experience like finding yourself and losing yourself at the same time. And yet, she felt lost and scared, and dirty.   
Evaneil hide her face with her arm, to think more about it. What if there wasn't love? It would be a broken marriage, a life wasted.  
And yet, the woman thought as she looked at the ceiling, it is not what I want.  
Suddenly, a thing was reflecting the light of the white sun, shining in the darkness of the cave. The mermaid got up and swam towards it out of curiosity. It was hidden under other things, like a little secret that had been hidden from her. She took the little thing with her fingers, it was made out of metal, it seemed, but it was all covered with seaweed. She cleaned it up, and a figure appeared. A woman with a crown decorated it.   
And she remembered everything.

___________________________

Evaneil was only seven years old, and yet she was very curious. She had just recently started to collect human things, and she would go to dangerous places to get the stuff. She was young, and had no idea of the dangers of the world.   
There were no other treasures close to the palace; the little princess had found them all already, so she had to adventure far away. One day she got very close to the surface, and she was marvellous by the blue sky, an eternal blue sea. When she looked around her, Evaneil found herself too close to the human world.  
A big building was at the side of the beach; with towers so high they could reach the sky. A castle, she had been told, were the rulers of human lived.   
She noticed something shinning between rocks at the shore; probably something she could collect, which made her approach the rocks. Apparently, it was a metal tool, but the mermaid already had too many of those. Resigned, she left it where it was, and decided to look a little bit more for something before returning. As she tried to swim away, something took her tail.  
A rope catches her tail, and didn't let her leave, and every time she tried to take it off, it would only attach stronger. It had started to hurt her and there was no way of escaping from it. She started to cry out of fear.   
A loud sound catches her attention, and she saw a strange creature approaching to her. It was like a seal, but bigger with two pair of feet, and was walking but faster towards her. It smelled her, and to the princess it seemed like it approved her, which was confirm as he licked her face.  
"Hello" she said as she pated him, "What are you? I've never seen something like you, are you a kind of seal?" The animal emitted a Woof!  
“Buddy! Where are you?!" A voice called and the animal ran to it, but Evaneil felt scared. It was a human coming towards them. "Hey were you going?" It asked as the creature woofed again where the mermaid was.   
The human appeared in front of her.  
He wasn't like she had imagined, it wasn't as different as she thought, waist up he was like other mermaids, but waist down, and he had feet. He was young, just a kid, with curled blonde hair and hazel eyes that expressed surprise.  
"Y-you are a mer-mermaid", she was scared, what if he hurted her or something?   
But the dog emitted a sad sound at her tail, that was still attached to the rope. The boy looked surprised "You- You are stuck, let me help you!" . He waited for her approval before coming closer to her. She wasn't really in the best situation to protest, so she nodded and allowed him to come closer. She left her tail to show him the rope, he examined it and tried to take it off, but the knot was well done to just undone it. He took from his belt a sharp knife and started to cut the knot.   
His small hands, yet bigger than hers, felt soft in her tail. He was kind of cute, for being a human.   
"There it is", the rope fell and her tail was freed from it.   
"I-I, Thank you", she said, and the boy looked surprised at her.  
"You can talk?”  
"Of course we can, we are not animals". The boy blushed, and Creators, he looks so cute.  
“I- I meant, I’m so-sorry, I didn’t want to imply…N-never mind”, he looked very ashamed for making that comment.  
“Can I ask you something?” the boy nodded, “what kind of seal is it?” she petted the animal. The boy looked confused as he heard her question.  
“He is not a seal, it is a dog, a mabari hound”, the mabari barked at the answer.  
“We don’t have animals like it down there”, she pointed at the sea, “What do you call that place?” the mermaid pointed at the other side of the bay.  
“That’s the city”, she looked at him without understanding, “It is the place where people have their houses and live together. It isn’t very big to other cities, and only has one port”.  
“Wait! Are you telling me that there are far bigger cities than that one? And what is a port?”, this world was just so new to her, and even if she collected all the human stuff she found, there was still too much she didn’t know.  
“Well, yes. The capital of the Ferelden kingdom is twice as big, all the cities of the Orlesian Empire are told to be too big to imagine them, and so is told about the Tevinter Empire”, she looked at her with her green eyes full of curiosity, “A port is the place where boats and ships are left. A ship is like a really big structure made out of wood that floats in the ocean and carries people and goods”.  
“I have seen them before, when I got too close to the surface. Sometimes they drop things in to the ocean, and I collect them”. She showed him her small purse where she keep all her little treasures she had found during the day.  
“But that’s rubbish!”, Evaneil felt offended and he felt stupid for saying that. “I mean… those things were thrown to the sea because they are broken and useless now. Look…” He took the piece of metal that had a round form. “This is meant to hold the food when you eat it, but it was a hole on it and the food will fell from it”. She felt dumb for not guessing that those things were broken.  
She was about to cry out of embarrassment, but he smiled to her, “Allow me to bring you more human things, not broken ones”. She looked at him excited.  
“Would…Would you truly do that?” He nodded.  
“It looks like you know very few things about the human world, so let me teach you. But as a reward, you’ll tell me more about the mermaids and how you live”, she agreed to him,” Also, Thomas seems very fond of you, isn’t it?” the mabari barked in excitement and licked the little mermaid face.  
“Then, tomorrow at this time?” He nodded, “Well, then see you tomorrow” and she swam away, but she forgot a little detail, so she came back, “I haven’t ask you, What is your name?”  
“Cullen” he said, “and yours?”  
“Evaneil”.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Time passes quickly when we are in our infancy, or maybe adults just feel it quicker, and yet, almost year had passed, the children reuniting every day at the same place, growing a very strong friendship. Some would say that Cullen was happier than before; they wonder what had made him change his mood, but they would have never guessed that the reason of his happiness was a little mermaid that had befriended him.

The same could be said for Evaneil, as her parents noticed. They didn’t give it too much importance; their child had always been a good girl. Even in all that happiness, something was worrying her; a strange sentiment filled her heart during her last visits. A warm feeling formed on her chest every time she saw him and she had wanted to take his hand with hers on more than one occasion.

All of her visits were made with cautions, the law of the mermaids forbidden contact with the world above the surface. But if it wasn’t enough problems, her parents were the rulers of the sea, and creators help her if they discovered it. But the warm feeling she felt was worth all of those problems.

By the way, Cullen had developed the same feeling when he saw her. He was old enough to tell that he had a crush on her, of course that in a very innocent way, they were children after all.

He didn’t know what he liked more, her non-human beauty, her intelligence, the kindness or bravery that she had. But there was one thing that made his heart flutter every time, the curiosity and marvelousness that filled her eyes when she learned something new. Evaneil would listen to him like no one else had ever done…

They shared their secrets and wishes, making their friendship strong. They had each other.

One day, Evaneil had gotten braver enough to ask him for something that she had never asked to anyone ever, but she didn’t know how. So that day, she brought with her a blue pearl, of the same deep colour of the ocean, it had taken her a lot to find it, and it was a very unique pearl. The princess would give it to Cullen on one condition, one she was very unsure to ask.

The human prince had been telling her a story, but she hadn’t been paying attention, too nervous about what was she going to ask…

“Cullen, I-I have something for you…” she showed him the pearl, “It’s a pearl called _the lady of the sea_. A very rare pearl that can be found in the very inside of a reef”, His hand reached for the pearl, but before he could get it, she hid it behind her back, “I’ll give it to you only on one condition… You must kiss me”.

Mermaids kissed to show affection with the ones they loved, or so had her mother told her once. It would be almost impossible to hide the fact that Evaneil had been wanting to kiss him. But did humans do that?

But after hearing the stories that he would read to her, she got to knew that humans did kiss, a lot, in fact. The tales would always end with the princess giving to the knight a true love kiss after he saved her from danger. Even thought, her favourite tale was about a common girl saving the prince by slaying a horrible creature, but it would also end in the lovers kissing. It was stupid, she thought, that she saw herself as the heroine from that tale and Cullen was her knight in shining armour.

“Wha-What?”, He was blushing furiously , and could have evaporated himself of how red he was. It took him by surprise, even if he was already used to been asked that by the noble girls many times, but Evaneil was not them. And not on a bad way, she was far intelligent and brave than all of them, and probably the cutest and beautiful girl he had ever seen. But it surprised him, the fact that his crush was asking to kiss him, “Why- Why would you ask something like that?”

Maybe he didn’t like her as she did, or didn’t find her pretty enough, and the thought of that hurted her heart. _I should have never asked him that…_

The boy saw the regret on her face, probably by the fact that he hadn’t said anything. He rubbed the back of his neck, this things were never easy to him, “I-I mean, is not that I don’t find you pretty or something…I mean… you are a really wonderful girl- well mermaid, But that’s not the point- I mean it is. But not like that- it just that –Oh maker!”, If embarrassment could kill someone, he would be long dead already, “It is just that…I haven’t give my first kiss yet”.

_So that was it_ , “Don’t worry about that…I have never kissed someone too”. She took his hand and squeezed it softly as she got closer to him, with her eyes shut.

And so, quicker than a second, his lips touched hers on a chaste kiss, more delicated that the touch of a flower, but the emotion she felt was far too much for her to handler. Evaneil opened her eyes, as Cullen waited for her reaction, fearing that she didn’t like it as much as he did.

She smiled to him and giggled, “That was very nice…”. The prince blushed furiously and the girl gave to him the blue pearl that she had promised to him, taking it in his hand and holding it safer than anything he had ever held.

He thought that maybe he should give something to her too. An idea crused his mind, and looked quickly on the pockets of his trousers, the only gift he could give to her right now, but at the same, the most important. “My brother gave me this before I left for the first time the kingdom” he showed her the coin as she looked curious about it, “It just a coin, that happened to be in his pocket, said that it was for luck. Either way, I haven’t faced as many unlucky things, so it may be working. But now…”, the took her hand and placed the coin, closing her fingers around it, “I want you to keep it”.

“Are you sure?”, the boy nodded in agreement, “I’ll keep it safe”. Suddenly, a voice called for Cullen and he knew it was time to leave.

“Good bye! See you next week for my birthday”, and he left, but not without kissing her cheek.

* * *

 

But everything changed one day…

Today would be Cullen’s birthday party, but he would probably not want to be at it. He detested them, especially because of the nobles, many of them lying to get favours and power. It was a ball, he had told her, full of people dancing while wearing the most beautiful clothes, ladies wearing dresses that made them look like some kind of fairy, trying to get as many attention from the young gentlements. The mermaids had celebrations that were very alike, were they would wear jewerly and decorations made by them.

She was going to see him, and thought that it was far more adequate for the occasion to put some sea flowers on her hair, and the just maybe, she would be like one of the princess from the tales that the boy had told to her. The illusion of it made her happy as she wished that she could go to one of these balls by his side. It was absolutely impossible for her, he was human, and she a mermaid.

But children have hope on the impossible things, and she thought that maybe they would be happy together one day. For now, she could only learn more about the human world.

Evaneil had been looking for some very rare shells and pearls to give to him as a present, but she didn’t really have any luck on it. So she had to get far away from the kingdom to find something. There was soon no seaweed or fish, just sand and the ocean, but a shiny thing caught her attention, maybe a present. So she swam towards it and tried to take it off from the sand where it was buried. Her excitement didn’t last long, the thing just being a piece of useless metal.

Thinking that maybe she should go back to the kingdom and search for another thing, she swam back home.

But she couldn’t move. Something catched her tail, a rope that came from a shadow on the surface of the sea… That was a ship! Desesperated, the little mermaid tried to free herself, but the knot would only tighten strongly around her tail. The fear paralyzed her as the rope was being pulled upwards to the ship.

As she was pulled out from the water, the fishing ship came in to view, were some fishermen were looking at her with fear and astonishment. “A sea monster!” one of them cried.

 “No idiot! That’s a mermaid!”

“Put it back in the ocean! She’ll bring us bad luck!”

“Don’t be stupid, we can sell her and make a fortune”.

Evaneil was totally terrified, horrible things crossed her mind. What if they took her away from the ocean? Or tortured her? Or worse, killed her? Everything about humans that she had heard from her parents was that they treated mermaids horrible, with a cruelty that was beyond words. The kindness that Cullen had showed to her had put aside those prejudices, but now, looking at those men eyes, filled with greed, had made her only more terrified of them.

They dropped her on the ship, before one of the sailors came towards her and cutted the rope, but when she tried to escape, he took her strongly by the tail. “Please, I won’t hurt you! Let me go!”, she begged with tears on her eyes.

But another of the sailors kicked her on the head, “Shut up monster!”. The pain was so big that for a moment she thought that she would fell unconscious from the pain _. I am not the monster here, you are_.

Somehow, they putted chains around her so she couldn’t move; making the iron left scars on her skin. A third sailor kicked her again in the head, and then she saw nothing.

 

* * *

 

Many hours had passed, but Cullen was still waiting for the mermaid by the shore, growing worried every minute that passed. She was very late, soon the ball would start and he would have to return to the castle.

What if she is hurt? Or something happened to her? Or she didn’t want to come anymore?

He didn’t know what could have caused her lateness, and the worry that she may not want to come anymore filled his heart with sorrow and sadness. The prince had become very fond of her, she was his only true friend, and the feeling that maybe she wasn’t fond of him…well; it only made him feel more devasted.

“Little brother!”, he heard his older sister voice and saw her walking towards him, “What are you doing? Mother and Father are waiting for us”.

“I’m very sorry, I’ll go back immediately”, he looked back at sea again and left…

* * *

 

 

 

The storage of the ship was cold and wet, with the smell of dead fish filling the air, making Evaneil want to vomit. She had just woken up and fear filled her heart. The little mermaid was now alone, going to a fatal destiny.

She wondered if her parents had noticed her absence, but the sea was too calm, making the ship only move from one side to the other like a mother rocking her baby.

She wondered if Cullen had worried about her, or maybe he didn’t really care. “ _Humans cannot be friends with mermaids, they have a greedy heart and cruel, they only want us so they can handle us on their home like a prize. The only thing that they care about is becoming rich, no matter if they must walk over someone”,_ An older mermaid had said once to her. Maybe Cullen saw her as more of a curiosity or a funny animal to talk too. It made her heart ache, like nothing ever had, but why? Did she gave him her heart?

No! Creators please I beg you that that’s not true, it is impossible, if she did that, then she would die and become sea foam, just because of a broken heart. Evaneil had to forget about him, a human would never love a mermaid. The only, love they felt was towards the money.

And yet, _why would he teach me about his world? He was a prince, he could have captured her any day, and yet, for some reason he didn’t…_

The little mermaid was immerse in her thoughts, when suddenly, the ship moved abruptly. What was going on?!

The ship moved again and Evaneil fell to the floor, while something cracked the ship and made it inside. Far the biggest crab she had ever seen and on top of it, riding the marine beast, her father, king of the waking sea. “Evaneil! My child, where are you!”, when he saw her, his worried expression disappeared as he went towards his daughter, “Are you all right? Hurt? Did they do something to you?”, Evaneil negated, feeling that maybe it would be better to leave the place before checking her wounds. The king broke the chains with his trident and hugged his child like his life depended on it, caressing her blonde hair. She started to cry on his father´s shoulder, who carried her in his arms as they mounted the crab again.

When they left, the ship was sinking as the water filled it.

 

* * *

 

“Da’len!” Her mother swam quickly at them, hugging her daughter with tears in her eyes, “Why did you go to the surface? We thought that we would never see you again!”. Evaneil only cried in her mother’s arms.

“I’m sorry mamae, I’m so so sorry, I’ll never do that again!”, her mother caressed her hair to make her sure that she was home and safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me half of my life, i really wanted to write it correctly so i re writted it unlike the second chapter (I feel like i may have to re writte it too).  
> These flashback are to not make that "love at first sight" and to give us some introduction about Evaneil's facination for the human world. Next chapter we'll get back at the present and the story will start moving.  
> As always, i apologise for the mistakes and feel free to give me any advice. And sorry for those that had been waiting for it, i was really sick and full of exams, not to mention my art block that didn't allow me to draw or to write.
> 
> If you want to talk about this or other things, you can check out my tumblr my-ships-taste-like-sugar
> 
> Don't forget to leave kudos and comment, that makes my day


	4. Chapter 4

How could she have forgotten something as important as that?

Uncertainty filled her, what else didn’t she remember? But most important, what was she supposed to do with all that knowledge? Did she truly fell in love with that boy? Did it mean that she was destined to become sea foam soon or later?

Evaneil only could held the coin as strong as she could, the only thing that gave her any comfort. If she thought that there was the slightest chance of being happy with her betrothed, now there was no hope on that. Could she truly bond with someone while her heart longed for the boy that had teach her so much about the surface world? She would either live unhappy for the rest of her life, or she would die of a broken heart.

The princess wondered what happened with Cullen, mermaids aged differently than humans. Would he still be the boy she knew, or maybe a grown man? Perhaps he was already dead…

The thought made her heart ache. If something bad had happened to him…she couldn’t even knew if she would be able to carry on…

But first of all, she had to remember the past that she didn’t knew she had. For that, the best option was to ask Asha’bellanar, the witch of the deepness.  Also known as Flemeth, the witch was one of the most powerful beings on the whole ocean, and if there was someone that could give her the answers she needed, it was her.

Going to see her meant that she would have to travel across one of the most dangerous parts of the kingdom, to the big cave that was surrounded by sharks that could eat a mermaid with just one bite. But the risk was worth it.

Evaneil left towards the south of the kingdom, making sure that no other mermaid saw her. The only thing that could make things worse was her parents finding out what had she remember. She loved them with all her heart, but it bothered her that every time she was at a celebration, the kings would try to introduce her to someone that would try to win her affections…

_Wait! What if they knew that I was in love with a human and they tried to make me fell in love with someone else?!_ That couldn’t be true, she had made sure that they didn’t know, and yet there was an strange feeling in all of this…

Soon, she reached the shark’s territory, so she swam only hidden by the seaweed, the creatures wouldn’t be able to see her beneath it. The biggest cave she had ever seen in her life appeared in front of her, with purple smoke coming out of it.

_I’m not really sure about this_ , she thought, but it was too late to regret this, she would just have to go through it.  The princess swam inside the cave and tried to be as discreet as she could, the worst thing that could happen to anyone was to upset the witch, who was said that she would unleash the biggest of the curses . She just continued swimming until she reached the centre of the cave, where many vials hung from the rocks. The skull of the biggest beast she had ever seen decorated the ceiling of the cave. It had horns and really really big teeth.

“One of the people, so bright and young…” Evaneil was startled by the old woman’s voice, who had appeared very quiet. She had white hair styled on the strangest way, making it look like actual horns; her eyes were yellow, like a reptile. She was old, and yet not any less graceful, with sharp face features, and her legs were really strange. Unlike other mermaids, she had reptilian legs, with purple scales and big claws.  And yet, her eyes showed amusement.

“Andaraa Atish’ara”, Evaneil said as she bowed, but to her surprise, the witch laughed, like she had found funny the situation.

“What brings the princess of the waking sea here? So far away from the safety of the castle, but you are very familiar with dangerous places. You must be fascinated by danger, aren’t you? Mermaids and humans fear what they can’t understand, destroying everything that doesn’t have a place with them”. The witch got close to her and lifted her chin as she looked at her eyes and felt like the elder woman was looking to the very deep of her heart. “A princess’s place is at the castle, until you bound with someone…But this world offers us a princess that doesn’t want to be princess, a mermaid that looks up at the human world without fear, but with an enormous curiosity. A woman who’s going to marry a prince, the dream of many mermaids…and yet you worry that you gave your heart to a human, the boy that teached you about his world”.

“H-How do you know that?” no one knew about their friendship, but the witch was very powerful. It was unlikely that she would not know.

“Oh little mermaid, I’ve been watching you very closely…You have come here for answer, the ones that I can tell you, and for those that you know but refuse to acknowledge. Your hearts belongs to your human friend, but you can ignore that and marry the prince. Or, embrace that truth and be lonely for the rest of your days, until your hearts breaks with time and you become sea foam”. She loved him, which was the truth that she didn’t want to get, it was a death sentence. But how did she forgot about everything?

“Why did I forget everything about him and the past we had? Was it the shock of being captured?” something in the older woman expression told her that she wouldn’t like the answer that she was about to receive.

“Your parents love you very deeply, princess, and they worried about you after you were captured. They came that day with you sleeping, wondering what had made you want to go to the surface and what did you see…And I told them about your human friend…”, the witch walked away from the woman and looked at one of the potions that hanged up of the cave wall, “They were terrified, the fact that you gave your heart to a human, of all things. Your life was at stake for them, mermaids and humans couldn’t love each other. They asked desperate for a solution, they asked me to erase your memories, so maybe you would forget about those feelings”.

She couldn’t believe what the witch had said; her parents had asked to erase her memories. She didn’t know how she felt. Her heart hurt from the betrayal and sadness, they had only wanted to protect her, and yet…

“I can take your memories away, so everything would be just like it should be, you’ll marry and try to be happy. Or, you can keep your memories and have an unhappy marriage with someone that doesn’t love you and neither do you…”

Her head told her to erase them, but her heart told her to keep them, she didn’t know about what she should do. Mermaids and humans couldn’t be together, there was no way that she could become human. But those memories were an important part of her life, could she truly gave them away?

“I’ll remain with my memories…” Evaneil needed time to wrap everything around her head, a decision like that one couldn’t be made in a rush. The witch looked at her as she said.

“You have chosen a life of sadness…interesting”.

“Wait! I just need more time to think about it”, but the witch was already leaving her.

“There was only one opportunity to choose, and you did it, now leave…but I’d recommend you to go to the surface in two nights, just above your little cave, you may get surprised”, and so, the witch of the deepness left in to the darkness of her cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long. I've been very busy with school as always.  
> Don't forget to leave comments and kudos, that would make me really happy.


	5. Chapter 5

Tonight they were going to throw a party to say good bye to his sister, and Rosaline, his younger sister, had decided that they were going to celebrate it on the royal ship. Cullen agreed with the idea, Mia would leave for a country without connections to the sea, so it seemed more than right that her farewell party would be as close to the ocean as possible.

They had invited just their closest friends; it was going to be a very private celebration. Lady Josephine had recommended to him that he should invite lady Trevelyan, in order to talk more with her. But of course that Dorian disagreed with the idea.

“I can’t believe you are truly going to invite her!” Dorian had been showing his annoyance while Cullen had gotten himself presentable for the party.  The prince had been fixing his clothes as he responded his friend.

“Dorian, can you stop with this nonsense? Lady Trevelyan is a gentle and kind woman, who has done nothing but being friendly with me”. Dorian knew that nothing that he said would change his friend’s feelings about his cousin.

“Do whatever you want, but don’t get upset when I’ll say _I told you_ ”.

The two men went to the main hall of the palace, where the rest of his friends where waiting for princess Mia. Rosaline was talking with Josephine and Lady Leliana, their spymaster. Dorian went to talk with the rest of his friends while they waited.

“Lady Trevelyan will arrive soon, Cullen”, Cassandra told him. She had been his best friend for a long time and she had been more than reluctant to help him with Lady Madelyne.  She was wearing her formal attire, that was more practical than elegant, well, she was the chief of the royal guard, Cassandra had to be always ready in case someone attacked the royal family.

After some minutes, Madelyne Trevelyan appeared, wearing a green dress that fitted her figure and that only made her blue eyes bright more. “Prince Cullen “, she made a little reverence, and Cullen took her hand and almost kissed it, like gentlemen were supposed to do, “I’m so honoured to be able to accompany you to this celebration. I really want to give my greeting to your sister before she leaves”.

“I’m very pleased that you had decided to accompany us tonight, and I hope you’ll enjoy this”. He talked with Madelyne while they waited for the princess. The prince thought that the noble woman looked very beautiful indeed, and their conversation was very pleasant, as always. Meanwhile, Dorian talked to one of their friends, wanting to ignore his cousin.

“Dorian, stop looking at your cousin like that, let the man have fun”, Blackwall said to him.

“Yeah, that’s right, allow the boss to enjoy that beauty”, The Iron Bull agreed.

“You have no idea of how she is truly…”, the qunari just laughed at him.

Soon enough, Princess Mia arrived at the hall, wearing a beautiful purple dress and her blond curls were tied up, while some strands of it came down at her shoulders. “I’m very sorry for the long waiting, we’ll better go now”.

They all went to the entry of the palace, where the carriages that would take them to the port were waiting for them. His mabari was waiting eagerly, moving his tail from one side to the other.

After some time, they were on the royal ship and just waited to be on the open sea to start the celebration.

 

 

Evaneil wasn’t really sure if this was a good idea at all, but the witch had told her to go up the surface tonight, and well, she was a witch, there had to be something important.  The sea was only illuminated by the moon light, but there was a shadow on the surface, long and round, like a…

“A ship!” the princess felt very very excited about it, but then she remembered what had happened, but now it was different, the darkness of the night would hide her, and she would be more careful with the ropes. When she came out of the sea, the biggest ship she had ever seen appeared in front of her eyes.

As the mermaid got close to it, music and sound of people laughing reached her ears, it was like a celebration. The curiosity took her to the very side of the ship; she needed to see what was going on. With her arms strength she climbed the side of the ship, until she found a little hole in the wood, and saw what was going on.

Many people were and laughing all around, women were wearing the most beautiful dresses she had ever seen.  Evaneil wondered what were they celebrating and as she saw the women dance, she wished with all her heart to have a pair of feet to dance as they did. One of the things that she envied of humans was their legs that allowed them to dance following the rhythm of the music. What wouldn’t she give to have the opportunity to dance just one time in her life?

“Well, I want to thank you all for this wonderful celebration and goodbye, I will miss you all with all my heart when I leave”, the woman that was speaking was very beautiful and had a kind voice. The rest of the humans clapped at her little speech. “Well, I think my brother has something to say, so you better come here!”

The man that came towards the woman was very alike, with golden hair just like his sister. He had very broad shoulders and a very attractive face, _Creators; I didn’t think that a human could be that handsome._ She couldn’t keep her eyes off him.

“Well, first of all, I, Prince Cullen, want to thank you all for coming to the goodbye celebration for mu sister, Princess Mia…” _Wait! He is Cullen?! The same young boy I met at the beach? The one I accidentally gave my heart too?! Freaking old witch, she knew this!_ Evaneil couldn’t believe it, not just that he was alive, but the fact that she was at just some meters from him. Her heart beat very fast and her chest felt very warm, happiness filled her. Creators, when was the last time she felt this happy?

“I wish you all the happiness, big sister, and I hope that your marriage is filled with love. And remember, you will always be welcome at here”. When he finished, Mia hugged him strongly and everyone clapped. The music was back now and everyone danced again.

But right now, the only thing that mattered to the mermaid was that she had found the man that held her heart. He was now dancing with a very beautiful woman, who had hair dark as the night and blue eyes deep as the sky. The woman looked at the prince with very loving eyes, and he had a very relaxed expression as he held her delicately. Evaneil felt jealously of the woman, she had the legs that allowed her to dance, and was dancing with the man that the mermaid loved. _Evaneil don’t be stupid, he was never yours and you aren’t even a human. And she is very beautiful; of course that he must like her…_

Her heart now ached, but she tried to not to focus on that, or she would end with a broken heart and become seafoam. Lost on her thoughts, she didn’t notice the hairy thing that came towards her and licked her face.

“Hello! It’s been so long!” The mabari licked her face and showed his excitement as she petted him. The dog barked at his owner, who looked at the dog, but the mermaid was quick enough to hide. Cullen saw nothing and kept dancing with the woman.

Soon, it would be time to go back to the palace under the sea, so Evaneil tried to memorize the face of the man that held her heart. The way he smiled, the warm of his eyes, the blond hair, his broad shoulders… What wouldn’t she give for just a second in his arms? To be able to feel them around her and hear his heart beats in his chest.

And so, she left and swam back to the ocean, thinking about how much she still loved him and what wouldn’t she give to dance in his arms just once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm very very sorry for the long wait, writting blocks sucks.  
> As always, comments are very appreaciated and don't forget to leave kudos.


	6. Chapter 6

Evaneil stayed in her cave for many hours, just thinking about what she should do. When she returned that morning to the palace, the servants had been very busy, but she didn’t really understand why, until her mother told her that the prince of the northern sea would come and invite her on a date. Apparently, he wanted to know her better before they got married, and her mother approved the idea by saying that “You never know when love can flourish”. He would be at the castle by noon, so she had a lot of time to spend doing something else.

But that time was so little to when it came to matters of heart. The mermaid didn’t know what to do anymore. She just couldn’t get married to that prince; neither could she be with the person she loved. _I don’t want to die, but I can’t shut this warm feeling out of my heart. It is impossible for me to go to the surface, even if I did, and if he actually remembers me, nothing can guarantee that he…that he…loves me._  

If she had the pair of legs…Evaneil wouldn’t just be able to see him again, she would be also able to see the surface world, all the wonders she always dreamt of, the blue sky, castles that reached the clouds, people dancing with their legs, the rain…

“We can help you...” the mermaid was startled by the female voice. Another mermaid, with blonde short hair approached her, her tail resembled a shark’s one.

“Who-Who are you?” she had never seen her before, the why did she knew about her problems?

“Allow me to present myself, my princess…My name is Calpernia, I serve the great Corypheous, and I have come here to offer you my master’s help”, who was this Corypheous? She had never heard of him before, how could he help her? And why?  “It looks like you have never heard of him before, so allow me to introduce you to him. My master is the most powerful mage in the ocean, more powerful than the witch of the sea…so powerful, that he may have an answer to your troubles”.

_More powerful than the witch of the sea_?  “You say that he can help me?”, Calpernia nodded. If he truly could gave her the answers she looked, then she had nothing to lose, “When can I see him and where?”

“I can take you right now, but it is your only chance”, Evaneil couldn’t go right now, it was getting late for her date, and her mother would get very very angry if she didn’t show up.

“I can’t right n-“.

“It is now or never, princess. You can go and have that date with the prince, or you can come with me to see Corypheous, who can help you to reach what you have been longing for”. She had to take the decision quickly before Calpearnia left…

“I’ll go with you…” She had the chance and she would take it, right now, she didn’t give a damn about that date, not when she had the option to get the answers to her problems.

“Good, follow me”, Calpernia left the cave and Evaneil followed her. They swam to the out sides of the kingdom, to the places that she had been strictly told not to go, because of the dangers that it held.

The sea weed became darker the far they swam, and many sharks were swimming, but they didn’t care about the two mermaids. Evaneil was actually terrified from this place; the tales said that leviathans and krakens lived here, and many other terrible creatures would hide, waiting for their prey. What kind of mage could live here?

Suddenly, the largest rift on the ground the princess had ever seen appeared in her sight. It was so  deep that the bottom couldn’t be seen. “Right now, we must swim towards the end of it, there if where my master lives”. Evaneil followed Calpernia, but when they hadn’t really advance that much, the mermaid took the princess arm to stop her, “Whatever happens, do not touch the red lirium”. She had seen lirium before, it was blue, and so what kind of lirium was red?

They swam for a long time, the princess couldn’t really tell for how long, but the surface had already been out of her sight, and the only light that illuminated the rift was the one that came from the red lirium crystals. After a long time, the end of the rift came into view, with a enormous cave made out of red lirium.

“You will address him as the Elder one and you will not speak without his permission”, Calpernia guided her into the cave, but suddenly she stopped, “now, you are on your own”.

_Well, there isn’t going back now_. She swam to the centre of the cave, which was decorated with the skeletons of many beasts. The water suddenly felt heavier and she was struggling a little to breathe, while a chilled stream crossed the place. She had never felt so scared, not even when she was kidnapped…she had no idea of what was waiting for her.

“And so, the princess of the waking sea finally decided to come…” Evaneil turned and fear filled her heart. Whatever he was, he was definitely not a mermaid or a human, not even any creature that she had ever known fitted his description…

He was taller that the tallest mermaid, he had legs, like humans, but they were deformed. Large and skeletal arms, hands with long nails. But the most horrible thing about him was his face, deformed with the same red crystals that almost covered all of his body. _Creators, this is the devil himself._

“I’ve been watching you for a long time…and I have decided to help you, but at a price…”he moved around her, examining her “I’m the most powerful being in the world, more powerful than the sea witch. I’m the only true god, far more powerful than those false idols your people worship…”

“What do you mean by that?” Evaneil knew she could talk when not allowed to, but he just called her gods false idols. He looked at her with irritated eyes.

“What I’m saying, fool girl, is that your gods are nothing compared to me, and you know why?” the mermaid negated.

“I can make you human”.

What? Make her human? But that was impossible, “But that is impossible-“

“Nothing is impossible for a god like me!”

If she became human, she would be able to go to the human world. She would see everything that she had ever dreamt of since a child, she would be able to get to know that wonderful world. She would be able to dance like she had always wanted to, and maybe, just maybe…she would see Cullen again…

“Here is my offer, I’ll make you human for the rest of your life, you’ll be able to walk and run, just like any other human…but if you touch the sea water, you’ll become a mermaid again and my slave for the eternity. The only price you will have to pay is your voice…”

“My voice?” He nodded. Without her voice, how would she communicate? And why did he want it?

Accepting this offer would mean that she would never be able to go back to the sea, she would never see her parents again, it would break their hearts… How could she truly do something like that? But she also wanted to go to the surface with all her heart, that was her only dream…

To spend the rest of her days with someone who didn’t love her, but staying with her parents or just to leave? To die after some time of a broken heart or go to the world that had always fascinated her? The decision was already made in her heart, but she was scared, so very scared.

“I accept it…” Corypheous looked pleased at her choice.

“Now, we must start with the process to make you human…” he held a circular rock, decorated with intricate designs and as he got closed to her, it started to shine with a green glow…

Her tail hurted like it was being ripped in two, the pain was far greater than anything she had ever felt. Her lungs tried to breathe, but she couldn’t, the water that had always been what she needed to live was now suffocating her. She needed air desperately; she needed to get out of the sea right now.

But she couldn’t handle the lack of air for long, and as the water filled her lungs, her vision darkened, _I’m going to die right now…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very funny because i posted chapter 7 without posting chapter 6 before. I had to delete the chapter and edit this one because i had completly forgot about it.
> 
> happy reading! Remember to leave kudos and comments.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things not always go as we planned them.

The nobles had been talking with him for already two hours, if not more time. They had been bothering him not with the matters of politics, but with matters of his personal life, making sure that he should only be worried about finding a suitable wife. Of course that the older nobles suggested their own daughters or their sisters, some young ladies had insisted that lady Travelyan was a suitable match. Cullen had tried to explain that he was now occupied with other things, but he just wanted that they got out of his personal life.

“Oh, look! Lady Travelyan is here!” one of the noblemen said and all of them left Cullen alone, so they could talk more privately. Lady Madelayne wore a nice blue dress and had her hair styled on a loosely braid. She looked beautiful.

“Good evening, your grace”. She said with a little reverence. Cullen took her hand and kissed it gently.

“Good evening, Lady Travelyan”.

“I wanted to thank you for that wonderful party and for inviting me to it. Can we go to the balcony to talk more privately?” Cullen nodded and offered his arm to her. The day was certainly nice; few clouds in the blue sky and the ocean looked calm. “My family is having a dinner party tomorrow night, and they insisted that I invited you to come, and I’ll be very glad if you go”.

“I’ll be glad to accompany you, if it pleases you”, the prince answered. Right now, the nobles are waiting for him to return and ask everything…”Why don’t we go on a small walk around the beach? It’s a nice day”.

Madealyne looked very surprised to the proposal, ”Of course”.  They descended the stair that led to the beach and walked by the side of the sea. Just as they started to walk, Cullen’s mabari ran towards them and jumped on him.

“Buddy, you never miss the chance to leave the palace, don’t you?” The dog just moved his little tail in excitement. The prince was too busy with his pet to notice the disgusted face that the woman had. “Why don’t you come with us?”. Suddenly, the mabari growled at the woman, “Don’t do that, she is a friend of mine”.

They walked for ten minutes or so, while they had asked different questions to each other, like which were their favourite hobbies, favourite types of food and colours, for example. She had said that she liked to dance and sing, things she was good at. Cullen told her that he sucked at dancing and always made a laugh of himself, and recalled that during the party, he stepped on her toes more than once. She just laughed and said that she could teach him.

Lady Madelayne had been playing with her hair in an attempt to flirt with him, when suddenly the mabari ran towards something. Cullen ran to his mabari, since the dog had been barking and crying. Cullen had been expecting anything but this…

On the beach was lying unconscious a woman, with long blonde hair wearing old rags. Something felt familiar to him but he couldn’t recall it, but whatever it was it needed to wait, he had to help her first. He knelt to see if she was still breathing, but she wasn’t.

“Madelayne, please go and get some help!” the woman ran towards the castle. Meanwhile, the dog liked the hands of the woman and moaned sadly when she didn’t wake up.

To his surprise, she coughed and threw up the water that she had breathed, but when he tried to help her, she fainted again. _Well, at least she is breathing now…_

He picked her up in his arms when he heard the call of guards coming towards there, “I need you to call the royal healer right now!”. He walked with her in his arms towards the castle and couldn’t keep himself to look at her face more closely.

Well, she was very beautiful, even in her state. The woman was very pale and her lips had become purple out of the cold, she probably suffered of hypothermia.

(…)

 

She felt very disoriented to say at least. Her body was just so tired to even think properly, less to open her eyes. Everything happened so fast, but first of all, she had to try to understand her current situation, where she was? Her body was resting on something very smooth and actually, very comfortable, while something very soft covered her body. It was very warm, making it hard for her to not to feel asleep again.

So, Evaneil opened her eyes. The first thing that surprised her was that she was actually very dry, well, everything was actually dry. _I must be on the surface… Wait! Does that mean that…?_

_Oh creator, I am human!_ She thought as she picked up the blankets that hide her legs, _Oh gods! I have legs! Legs! It worked, I’m human!_

The room where she was staying was very simple decorated, but it showed richness none less, with some fine furniture. She was lying on a bed and many blankets covered her, Evaneil was wearing some old rags that she didn’t remember putting on, and her hair was a mess. The door opened and a man greeted her, “Hello, I see you are awake now and maybe feeling better. You drowned and had hypothermia, we weren’t very sure if you’d make it through, but we are glad you survived”, The man had a bold head and wore simple clothes, he walked towards her and putted his hand on her forehead, “looks like you don’t have fever…” He wrote something down on a paper. “Sorry, I haven’t presented myself, my name is Solas and I’m the royal healer. Your name, my lady, is…”.

Evaneil tried to answer but no sound came from her throat. She putted her hand on it, remembering that her voice was the price to pay to become human, “You can’t speak?” Solas asked and she nodded, “Do you remember anything?”

The former mermaid knew that no one would ever believe that she became a human or the story behind how did she did it, right now, she didn’t had a back-up plan, so instead she lied and negated.

“Prince Cullen found you by the sea shore unconscious and brought you to the palace. We suppose your ship sink or you fell from it and drowned, but we have no reports of any ship sinking in the last days”. _Wait! I’m at Cullen’s palace? He found me?_ Evaneil couldn’t hide her excitement at the idea of finally be by his side again. Solas only looked strangely at her, with her out of nowhere happiness. “I’ll go and inform Prince Cullen that you are well, if you excuse me…”

_All right, Evaneil, you only have to stay calm and everything will be fine!_ She tried to style her hair so it didn’t look as messy as it was; she needed to make a good impression on him, even if he remembered her. The door opened and her heart stopped for a second.

Cullen looked just as she remembered him from the night in the ship. Blond auburn curled hair styled back on a very formal way, hazelnut coloured eyes, a scar on his upper lip and very broad shoulders covered with a formal suit. He was very very handsome, but she missed some of the child look that he used to have. Yet, her heart beat faster and faster, she couldn’t help it.

“Good morning, my lady, our royal healer has informed me that you have just awaked now. He already told me that you aren’t able to speak and don’t remember anything, but at least you’re not dead as we feared”, Solas came inside the bedroom carrying food. “Please, fell free to stay at the palace until you get better or you get your memories back, now if you excuse me, my lady”.

And he left, he left just like that. _Wait? He didn’t recognise me? Oh creators, what I’m going to do now? How couldn’t he recognise me? Did he forget so easily about me?_ Sadness filled her heart, which now ached.

“Here, my lady, you should eat something”, Solas offered her a plate of food, which looked like strange coloured water and was very hot. _I don’t know what this thing is but it tastes so good_. “As prince Cullen said, you’re welcome to stay in the palace for as long as you need. Some servants will come in a moment to take you to take a bath and get clean”, Evaneil had already finished whatever was on her plate. “You can walk around the palace, including the library and the gardens, good bye, my lady”. Solas left Evaneil alone, who had no idea of what to do now…

What should she do if Cullen doesn’t remember her? She couldn’t go back to the ocean, or she’ll become a slave of Corypheous. Well, now she was human and she could only try to see more of this world, the one she had always admired. The healer said that there was a library, even if she couldn’t read, some books had many drawings she could see in order to understand anything in this world. _At least my dream came true…_

She wasn’t going to let this to regret her decision. There were more important things, like the fact that she had human legs and was completely human. Legs that would allow her to walk and to dance, to visit every corner of the world she had always looked up to.

Someone knocked the door of the bedroom and a woman entered, “Good evening my lady, I’ve come to fetch you to your bath”, the woman seemed  kind, so Evaneil was going to follow her, but as she took the blankets off and tried to stand up…

The former mermaid fell to the floor and the servant came quickly at her. _Who knew that walking could be so hard?_ Her new legs were weak and she could find her balance, but the servant noticed that something was wrong.

“You poor thing, the accident must have been horrible. Don’t worry, I’ll help you”, the other woman helped her to stand up, “Move one foot in front of the other, slowly…”. She held Evaneil so she wouldn’t fall and they made it outside the bedroom.

Just in front of the door, was another door, where another servant was waiting for them. They made it inside that room, and it was strange…Steam filled the air of the room, which had a large tub filled with hot water and foam. The other servant talked to her, “Allow me to get you out of those rags”, she untied the rope that was keeping the “dress” and it fell to the floor, leaving her naked in front of them. One of the thing that she would never understand about humans, is they fascination for hiding their bodies, like, everyone has the same things as the other, why would you hide it? She had practically lived her entire life naked, just as the other mermaids and mermen.

“Please get into the tub”, the first servant said. Evaneil paused at that.

What is she became a mermaid again? It was water, it was the sea. She couldn’t get in to the tub. Fear filled her, what if she became a servant of Corypheous…

The servant had noticed that the young woman was shacking, “You poor thing, you must be terrified of water now, but look…” she went to the tub, “It is not deep, you won’t drown”.

The other servant took her arm, “it isn’t sea water, it is water from the river”. Well, if it wasn’t sea water then it didn’t count, did it? They guided her in to the tub, and Evaneil couldn’t help but feel very relaxed, she had never felt water so warm. She sat on the tub while the servants helped her to get clean.

They washed her hair, but it didn’t help the fact that it was just too tangled. She had never cared about it, neither did the other mermaids, since it used to flow with the water, but now that she wasn’t at the sea, it did became a problem.

After they cleaned her completely, they dried her with some towels and covered her body with a dried one. With some help, she went inside her room, where the women started to dress her.

Evaneil didn’t know what was more uncomfortable, if the underwear she was wearing or the dress. It was light blue and it reached below her knees, modest but very beautiful. She missed being almost naked, it was far more comfortable than clothes, but humans had some weird ideas. If she was going to live as a human, then she would act like one.

They sat her at a dressing table and one of them took a hairbrush that laid on top of it and tried to untangle her hair. But it was in vain, her hair was just too tangled to brush it.

“Let me go and get something to untangle it”, the servant left and Evaneil was left alone in the room.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Every memory of everything that had happened came to her mind, her engagement, how she got her memories back, how she reached for help and gave up her life as a mermaid to be human.

_You stupid! How could you truly think that Cullen would recognise you immediately and you could be happy together…_

Even thought, she didn’t regret it. She had done the impossible, she had become human. She only wished that she had been less innocent and more realistic instead.

As she looked at herself, she saw how her hair represented all that stupid innocence she had as a mermaid and if she was human, she had to get rid of it. She took the scissors that were on top of the dressing table, she had decided it already.

And so, Evaneil cut her hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this!  
> Don't forget to comment and leave kudos, that makes my day.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strange people befriends other strange people.

The next days had been pretty boring; Evaneil had to spend the days trying to walk normally by going from one side of the room to the other with the help of a stick that Solas had given to her. She had gone out of the bedroom and walked along the corridor, but she didn’t go very far.

When she wasn’t trying to walk, she watched the outsides of the palace from the windows of her room. It had some very large gardens, full of trees, bushes and flowers. Some servants would take care of it in the morning. The sea was very close to the palace and she could smell the salt from her window. The former mermaid missed it terribly, it had been her home and now it wasn’t.

Small sounds from the city could be heard during the day, but it would die off as the night came. Some ships arrived to the port and other left.

The only people she had seen were the same servants and Solas, who would come to check her twice a day, to see how her health improved. She wanted to get out, but her legs were too weak yet.

Until today, Evaneil had managed to walk on her own without the stick or any support, meaning that she would try to walk farther that she had done before. The shoes still felt strange on her feet, she hadn’t get used to them, but the clothes weren’t as uncomfortable as they used to be, they were very simple, something she was grateful for. She couldn’t start with the more complicated things.

She brushed her hair, in order to look more presentable. It reached the middle of her neck, finding very surprising how comfortable it was. The servants had been so surprised that she had cut her long and beautiful hair. Yet, she liked it short.

Evaneil opened the door and left the bedroom, Solas had said that she could go to many places like the gardens, the library or the ballroom, but she was more interested in the second one. So many things to learn, and what a better place than the library, even if she didn’t know how to read, some books had pictures on them.

The corridor was empty; most of the servants were probably preparing lunch. She walked slowly, not wanting to fall to the floor; her legs still needed time to get used. The door of the library was in front of her, she remembered the directions that a servant had gave to her, thanks to her very good memory.

She opened the door gently, trying not to disturb anyone who could be there. It took her breathe away.

The room was large and full of books everywhere, she knew that libraries had many books, but she never imagined that there could be so many, like if it contained every book that ever existed.

Evaneil closed the door gently and walked inside, amazed by how many books there were, where should she start? _Well, I can only try my best._

With that in mind, she started by the right side and then she would move left, in order to look in all the books. But when she took the first book, she was surprised to found out that it had no pictures, just letters. _Maybe not all books have pictures_. She couldn’t help her disappointment, but she would have to continue with the rest of them, one by one. It couldn’t be so complicated, could it?

Oh, but she was wrong, so very wrong.

Evaneil didn’t know for how long had she been looking at different books, but it was already late in the afternoon. Only five had pictures on it, and they weren’t really helpful, the pictures were just simple everyday things that she knew. How many books had she seen completely? She wasn’t sure anymore, but it was still a small fraction of the library. There should be at least other books that could help her, shouldn’t it?

Maybe she was imagining things, but she heard the sound of the door closing, maybe twice that day, but she hadn’t really noticed the first time, then maybe someone was inside with her? Any ways, it was too late to continue and maybe the servants would be searching for her. She would have to continue tomorrow.

 

The former mermaid continued to visit the library every day during the last week, yet she started to feel that she was going nowhere. The few books with pictures didn’t really explain anything to her; they were useless if she didn’t know how to read.

It frustrated her, the fact that she couldn’t do what humans could. Was she in the end no less mermaid than she was before? _My only way of learning doesn’t work because I can’t put two letters together…_ she sighed in defeat, what should she do now?

Footsteps came closer to her, “Well, I won’t interrupt your feeling of eternal frustration, but in the last week I have seen you register almost every book, searching for something, one by one… You’ll excuse me, but I can’t keep my curiosity away from this situation”. Evaneil turned around to see the man that was talking to her, _when did he enter?_ She was very surprised. A man with dark skin and black hair, with a very hairy thing up of his mouth, not a beard but something alike. His eyes looked at her full of curiosity, “You are the woman that Cullen saved on the beach, Am I wrong?” she just nodded, who was him? “What has you so frustrated and what are you looking for that you can’t seem to find?”

Evaneil only looked at her books, spilled on the floor, opened on the pages that had pictures on them, he took one, “ _Study about the history of the Avaar culture_ ” So that’s why it had pictures of nearly naked people covered with furs, maybe it wasn’t the kind of book she needed , “ I’m pretty sure that it must be a very interesting subject, the Avaar and the Honneleath kingdom have a past in common…” , Her confusion must have shown on her face, because the man looked surprised “Wait, you didn’t know what was it about, do you?”, she nodded, embarrassed of the truth.

“Then why are you…” She indicated all the books with pictures and pointed at some letters and shaking her head, maybe then he would understand that she didn’t know how to read, “You don’t know how to read, so if I’m not wrong, you’d try to understand them by looking at the pictures?”,  the young woman nodded.

He just looked at the books that lay on the floor, they were many, she truly tried to understand anything. His face showed that he was thinking deeply about the situation. “The mysterious woman that appeared unconscious by the beach, can’t talk and does not remember anything…”, then he looked directly at her eyes, “I wonder what kind of story do you have to tell us…” He picked some of the books that were on the floor and stored them back where they belonged. “I feel such a curiosity; I need to know what you want to know, what you are searching for… My father always told me that I was too fascinated by strange things, especially with strange people, and he was damn right…”. He continued to store back the books, and then putted the tip of his fingers on her chin, lifting her face, so they looked directly at their eyes “If I teach you how to read and write, will you tell me that interesting story that you may have? Will you satisfied my curiosity and wonder?”.

Could she? What would she even tell him, that she was a mermaid? There was no way that someone would believe that, and if someone did, it was a dangerous thing to say. She remembered the men that had kidnapped her as a child, she wouldn’t commit the same mistake again.

Yet, she wanted to learn. It was her only dream, if she could read, maybe she would understand everything she didn’t, she would be able to communicate with the rest of people if she could write. He didn’t have to know the truth, did he? She could make a backup story…

She nodded in agreement, “Good, it’s a deal then, I teach you and you tell me”.

He helped her to stand up and they left the rest of the books in the shelves, but them a comment he made struck her, “Some would say that you are a mermaid…” _Shit! Shit! Shit_!” People really need to put some nonsense on the stories, don’t they?” the man laughed and Evaneil did too, but it came as a very awkward laugh with no sound on it, at least he thinks it’s only a joke and not true…

“People need to learn that they don’t need to put nonsense on a story to make it interesting, and that’s why I’m a fan of the truth. And you seem like a very interesting person…”

He is just curious about me, that’s why he is helping me…” By the way, my mane is Dorian Pavus, a pleasure to meet you”, he kissed her hand and she couldn’t help but blush, he was a very handsome man, wasn’t he?

“Why don’t you come here every day at six? I’m not busy at that hour”, she agreed, “Then my lady, until tomorrow”. Dorian left the library and the former mermaid couldn’t help her excitement, someone would teach her how to read!

But he almost discovered her; the fact that it was such an impossible thing saved her. If she was lucky, most people would believe that mermaids and mermen were only tales for children and nothing else. She feared not just for her safety, but also about the safety of her people, hiding themselves for centuries, she would not put them in danger just because she was stupid enough to reveal her true identity.

 

Evaneil had been getting ready to sleep, she had finally got used to the fact of sleeping with many blankets, the night was actually really cold, even in the middle of summer, one of the servants said. Honneleath had a very cold climate, just like Ferelden and unlike Orlais, which had warmer temperatures. The people were used to it, but Evaneil wasn’t, something that bothered her a lot. But her feet were always cold and not matter how many socks she wore, they would stay cold, so she just gave up and wore only the normal pair of socks.

Now, she was undress, except for her underwear, height waisted smalls with embroidery and laces, a bralet with the same patterns and stockings that were held by a garterbelt. She couldn’t help herself but to feel very pretty on it, even alluring.

She left out a yawn and took off the stockings and the bralet, searched for her white night gown and dressed on it. She brushed her hair, because no matter that it wasn’t long as before, it was still very wild, but something startled her.

“You are happy that someone will teach you to read because you’ll get to know more about this world…”, Evaneil would have cried in surprised if she had a voice, but she just fell to the floor , as a boy stared at her. Where did he come from? “I’m sorry I frighten you, my name is Cole, and I’m here to help…”

How did he enter on the first place? “You wonder how I entered, I’m a spirit…” _Wait; can you hear what I think?_ “Yes, actually you are very loud, a hurricane of emotions, but also a peaceful lullaby…” What was doing a spirit out of the realm of dreams? “I came here in the middle of the war, so much pain, I came to help…” _A spirit of compassion…_ her parents had talked about the spirits that lived in the realm of dreams, saying that there were many, that mages were connected to them very closely, and that her kind had a deep connection with them, since it’s said that they came from a sea spirit that had left the spirit’s realm.

_Why have you come here to my room?_ “You seemed happy, I like seeing people happy, you are happy like a small child…I like it very much”, _but you said that you were a spirit of compassion; shouldn’t you be helping other people?_ “But I’ve come to help you, there are days were you feel very lonely, you haven’t made many friends, or any. You want to talk, but you can’t say a word, it makes you sad...Solas talks, but mostly he asks about your health and then leaves”.

Yes, she had been feeling very lonely, alone in this world without anyone to relay on. “But it hurts more that the man you love doesn’t remember you…” Evaneil baked up the tears that formed on her eyes, it hurted a lot, even if she had another goals, it hurted. She had just seen him once, that day she woke up, and then no other time. _I gave my heart to him, but what’s the deal with it if he doesn’t remember me?_

“I can be your friend”, _wait, what?_ “You are sad because you are lonely, and I want to help, I like to help _…” But you can’t just go asking people that, you need to get to know them and see if you can rely on them_ , “Then let me get to know you, I’ll become your friend…”.

Evaneil just sighted, it was a strange way to start a friendship, but the spirit seemed to truly want to help her, who was she to deny his help? _All right then, let’s become friends, Cole…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, this si the first chapter that i had completly written by hand on a notebook, but it didn't take too long to writte on the computer.  
> Remember to leave kudos and comments, any advice is appreciated.  
> See you next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Evaneil woke up in the morning, very excited. She wanted to learn how to read as soon as possible, yet she’ll have to wait until the afternoon to see Dorian. She was eating breakfast, when someone knocked the door and walked inside.

Solas came in; he had started to come to see her less, since her health had improved. “Good morning, Evaneil”. _Wait! How does he know my name?_ “Cole told me that he had come here last night and you two talked. He said that he wanted to help you, didn’t he?” The young woman nodded, but she was scared that the spirit had said something else. The man only examined her as he talked “Cole is a spirit of compassion, he came here during the war against Orlais, years ago, but he remained here, saying that he still needed to help, but people didn’t like him very much, they said that he was a demon. He noticed that people only felt terror when they saw him, and since he wanted to help…he stayed at the tower where my studio is. That’s how I meet him…” she wondered what was scary of a spirit, especially someone who had been very nice to her. She was scared, but only because he had appeared out of nowhere, but not because he was a spirit. She had met many at home, since her mother, Queen Deshanna Lavellan was a mage who loved spirits and would make sure that they looked after their kingdom.” It seemed that people had just forgotten about him, no one knew that he was staying here, until I found him during my travels to the fade the first night I stayed at the castle. I convinced Princess Mia that the spirit meant no harm and wouldn’t cause trouble; she let him stay but left me in charge of him. As a mage, I’m connected to spirits so we were very close, but I knew that he wasn’t comfortable here, so I told him to go back to his home, to the fade and yet…he refused, saying that he needed to help”.

Evaneil fixed her clothes after Solas examined her, “But he never came out of my studio…until last night”. Solas looked at her eyes directly, searching for something, but his expression changed to one of curiosity to one of pity, “When he told me that he had come to see you, I was surprised”, he wrote something on a paper as always “At least I’m glad that we know your name, which means that Cole could help you remember everything”. She wondered if Solas was suspicious that there was something different about her, he seemed to know so much, what if his spirit friends had told him? He would have probably said something right now, but he didn’t.

“Cole said that Dorian had approached to you yesterday at the library and that he had offered himself to teach you how to read”, she nodded “He is a very pretentious mage, not a bad person but very concerned about his own image. Is more than probably that he is just teaching you how to read out of boredom, like if you were some exotic pet”. She hadn’t really thought about that, was she nothing more than an exotic little animal? She considered it, since Dorian was far more interested in her backstory, that’s why he wanted her to learn how to communicate. “If you don’t feel comfortable with him, you can ask me to teach you, any friend of Cole is a friend of mine…”. Solas made a nice offering, but she would first try with Dorian, maybe he wasn’t so self-centred to use her as a amusement.

The healer said good bye and left her in her room alone, doubt filling her heart. Did people see her as nothing but an entertainment? The former mermaid didn’t really expect to make any friends, but her small talk with Dorian had gave her hopes about the fact that she wasn’t going to be as lonely as she thought…was she wrong?

She needed fresh air, yes! That would clear her mind. Evaneil could go to the gardens, she had never visited them, and they looked very beautiful from her window. She put some shoes on and left the bedroom, getting outside at the garden.

It was lovely, the bushes were cut on a very neat way, and all types of flowers decorated the plants. Big trees stood on every corner of the garden and some were dispersed around it, while a big fountain stood in the middle of it all. Some servants were cleaning and tidying the place, but none seemed to be bothered by her presence.

The woman sat at one of the extremes of the garden, the sun was up in the sky and a small wind passed by. It felt strange, to be so hot and dried. When she was a mermaid, she spent her entire life in the ocean, her skin was always wet, but now it wasn’t. Neither had she ever fell the sunlight’s, her travels outside of the sea had always been late, where no light could delate her to humans. Well, even when she used to talk as children with Cullen, she had tried to meet with him late or when it was a cloudy day.

She took a deep breath and relaxed while closing her eyes, there weren’t many sounds to be heard and the sunlight felt nice against her body, warming her. Evaneil could have fallen asleep there without any effort. Did humans have gardens for that reason, so they could relax?

Something wet touched her hand and she got a really nice surprise when she opened her eyes, _Thomas! It’s been so long_! Cullen’s mabari stood in front of her, moving his little tail excitedly. She petted him and he stranded up with his legs that held in her lap, he licked her face as a show of happiness and affection.

“He’s very happy, his old friend is finally back” Cole suddenly appeared by her side and the woman startled, _Cole! Stop appearing so suddenly, it scares me..._ “Sorry, I just wanted to help and you two are so happy. He remembers you, the smell of sea water and lavender”, Cole was wearing the same old rags that she saw him wearing last night, with that really big hat. ”He missed you so much, you were his second human…”, Evaneil only looked at the mabari, that moved his tail in excitement, _I missed you too_ , she wanted to say, but the dog must have understood her expression.

Cole sat beside her, only looking at the garden, while she petted the dog. _Solas told me you spoke to him_ , “Yes, I did, but you are afraid I told him about your secret, but I did not. Solas helps people, I thought he could help you”, _Yes, but Solas helps people when they have a health problem and I don’t anymore_ , “He wonders what made talk to you, but I told him I only wanted to help…apparently people don’t talk to each other only to help, I don’t quite understand it…”.

_And what have you been doing during the rest of the morning_? She asked, “I watch people from afar, seeing if they need my help. A woman was reading a book hidden in the library, she didn’t want to be seen but I did, a younger woman was having tea and stressing herself reading many letters, a man was having trouble with a letter of his family, a girl was sad because she was in love but the boy wasn’t or so she thinks, but I know he’s in love too with her. A man was trying to look appropriate for a woman, he had to court her, but he wasn’t really in love, and neither did she. Many people, many voices, I want to help but it scares them to see me so I don’t approach…”, _But how did you know that I wouldn’t be scared of you?_ “Your mother is the queen of the sea, she is a mage too, you grow up with spirits surrounding you, it doesn’t scares you, neither you would be scared of me”

The fact that Cole knew so much about her allowed her to feel more comfortable around him, he knew her fears and dreams, her secret that she couldn’t reveal. He didn’t judge her for being a mermaid.

Evaneil just relaxed and closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the small breeze that passed by. The sun felt hot on her checks, maybe too hot. She touched them, but they hurted like if they were burning, _Ouch! Why do they hurt?_ , “Solas told me it happens sometimes, when you spend too much time under the sun, especially if your skin if too delicate. It’s called sunburn…” _How do I make it stop?_ “I don’t know but Solas do, let’s go and tell him, he’ll help you”. They stood up and left to the insides of the palace, while Thomas left running to the other side.

They made it inside Solas studio; the healer was making some potions on a desk. “Hello Cole, and Evaneil…” He looked directly at her red cheeks. “Did you just got a sunburn?” Cole replied for her.

“We were sitting at the garden, the sun was nice and she relaxed, but when she touched her cheeks they burned…” The healer made a gesture to her, telling her to get closer to him.

“I will heal your cheeks, but first I’ll put my hands on them with a freezing spell, it may help with the burning sensation”. His hands glowed with a light blue light and he put them in her face, they felt cold, but very nice, stopping the burning sensation. Aster a minute, he left and searched for something on a shelf full of potions, and then he came back with a jar with cream and putted some in her hand. “Apply some on your skin, it will heal it”, she did as instructed, “next time you go out, try to not be under the sun for too much time, your skin is too delicate. I recommend to wear a hat, not as big as the one Cole is using, but big enough to keep your face protected from the sun”.

She just nodded and thanked him. Solas looked busy, so she just left with Cole, not wanting to interrupt him anymore time.

She spend the rest of the day asking Cole about the human world, but since he was an spirits, there wasn’t really that much he could tell her, some things he didn’t understand or others neither did she. So, she decided that it would be better to ask him about the fade, but he didn’t really tell her too much or she just didn’t really didn’t understand. They couldn’t really do much on the day.

It was the afternoon, she would have to go to see Dorian, so she left her room and went to the library and Cole followed her. When she got inside the library, there was no one else and she feared that he may have changed his mind about teaching her.

“Don’t worry, he is coming, he is just late, Dorian has been arguing again with Bull…” and just as Cole finished his sentence, Dorian came inside.

“Good evening my lady and…Maker! Cole! Why are you here? You are always in the studio of the boring Solas”. He looked very surprised; it was true then that Cole didn’t really leave the studio.

“I want to help her…” Cole explained everything, telling him that Solas knew that he was with her.

“I’m sorry my lady for looking so exalted, but Cole never leaves that tower, not even when I once told him to do so. You must have truly catched his attention”, Dorian winked at her, but she really didn’t understand.

“Her name is Evaneil, she is very excited to learn. She truly is, like a lot, is the only thing that she could think of…” _Cole! You don’t have to say everything I think!_ She pulled his shirt as she protested, “But you can’t talk and I want to help”, _but if I want to say something I’ll tell you to do so_ , she continued protesting and Dorian only laughed.

“Cole, is our friend wants to talk, she’ll tell you. Besides, I know that my company is very desired, dear Evaneil…”. _At least he calls me by my name now…_ ” Why don’t we begin?”, he putted an arm around her shoulders and guided her to a par of chairs. She couldn’t help but blush at the proximity of him, he was very handsome indeed.

They sat on the chairs and Dorian took a book, “So, do you know any letters?” she negated, this would be a long evening…

Time passed, almost three hours, but she hadn’t really made any advances, Evaneil couldn’t help but to feel useless. How couldn’t she be able to put two letters together? Her disappointment must have shown on her face, because Dorian reassured her, “Don’t worry, you are doing a great job. It always takes long the first times, but it’s nothing you can’t do…” Maybe he was right…

“But you learnt when you were four…” Cole said and she felt more stupid.

“Cole, you aren’t helping!” Dorian said.

“Sorry” Cole apologised.

“What I mean is that it doesn’t matter if it takes you long, you will eventually learn, besides, I’m the best teacher that you’ll find in the world”, She felt better at his comment, yet she wanted to know more about him, so she had an idea. _Cole! Come here please!_ The spirit boy had been resting on a sofa, passing the pages of some books. He stand up and went towards her, _Can you please ask him some things?_

 

“She wonders where are you from” Dorian seemed surprised by the question.

“My homeland is the Tevinter Empire”, she had no idea of what place he was talking about, “It would be better if I show you…” he left and came back with a very big paper that was rolled. Dorian opened and she looked at the very strange designs, “This is a map, It’s a drawing of the all the places in the world, like if you saw it from above the sky. The blue spaces are the seas, lakes and rivers, the green and brown are the surface of the ground, the points mark cities, villages and other things like castles and strongholds”. He pointed to a region on the map, “We are here, at the Honneleath Kingdom, it is very small compared to others like Ferelden or the Orleasian Empire”. Dorian continued showing her some places and the characteristics of them.

The former mermaid was fascinated, so many places. Seas of sand where it never rained, mountains covered in snow, forest with no end and kingdoms too big to actually travel them all. One day she would like to see them.

Then, Dorian pointed to the north of it, “This is where my homeland is…” The empire was the biggest nation in the map, it covered almost all the north, “Not a nice place right now, but It’ll be better, one day…” Did he miss it like she missed the ocean?

“She wonders if you miss it…” Cole said in her place.

Dorian looked sad at the question, “Yes, but it is complicated…”. Before she could ask more, the clock on the library announced that it was already twelve o’clock, “Kaffas! Look at the hour! It’s too late already, we better leave it here, tomorrow same time?” she nodded.

The three of them left the library and before Evaneil could leave for her room, Dorian spoke to her, “It’s been a nice evening, my Lady Evaneil, and I hope it repeats. I like when people ask questions to me”. He took her hand and kissed it slightly, she couldn’t help to blush.

After that, he just let a small laugh and left her on the corridor.

That night, the former mermaid dreamt about all of those wonderful places.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really love Cole and Dorian so much, and i've enjoyed a lot to writte them.
> 
> Kudos and comments as apreciated as always!
> 
> See you in two weeks at least.


	10. Chapter 10

Some days had passed and Evaneil found herself progressing enough to write her own name and read short words. Dorian said she was improving very quickly; she could learn how to read properly in a short period of time.

Actually, she would like to say that she had become friends with Dorian, but she wasn’t confident enough to call herself his friend. The feeling that maybe she wasn’t anything but an exotic entertainment was still around her mind. Cole told her that he could see what was inside of Dorian’s mind, but she rejected the idea, it wasn’t correct to read others people mind, especially without their consent.

Her time with Dorian was very nice, half of it he would teach her and the other half would be him talking about the many things she asked. But the mage was very good at talking about himself, but Evaneil didn’t really mind, she just wanted to get to know him better. He said that he loved his country, but there were many things that had to change, to make it a better place for everyone.

He had come here as a mage apprentice to the Royal Enchanter, Lady Vivienne de Fer, thanks to a recommendation of his former tutor, but when Dorian said that part, he wasn’t very convinced of what he was saying. His family had ties to another noble family that resided here at Honneleath, the Trevelyans, which didn’t make it any strange that he had crossed ways with some cousins of him. She felt like he wasn’t very fond of his family, but she didn’t dare to ask about too personal matters, every time he talked about family, he would have sad eyes.

Dorian had asked things to her, but she could only pretend that she didn’t remember anything about her past before she drowned. So instead, he would ask her about her time here at the palace. Most of the time she would spend her time at the library, trying to improve her reading, or at the gardens, below a tree. Sometimes she would play with the Mabari and Cole, who would always stay close to her.

Other times she would visit Solas, who had been talking to her about the fade and his magic. Evaneil enjoyed hearing him talking with such a passion about it; she could spend hours hearing him talking about it.

The first time Solas had talked to her about the fade and what he had seen in his dreams, she was so curious, wondering if the spirits below the sea were any different from the ones on the surface. He told her about all the things he had witnessed, heroic battles and heroic heroes, tragic love stories and the rise and fall of many kingdoms. He was happy that there was someone interested on what he had to say.

But since she couldn’t really say something, Solas had the amazing idea of giving her a small notebook so she could write what she wanted to say. It made everything far easier than before.

It was early on the morning, but she had just recently waked up. The servants brought her breakfast and then she dressed. Evaneil had no idea about what to do now, going to the library sounded boring right now and the gardens would probably be full of servants fixing it up.

A servant girl suggested her to go to the city, something she hadn’t done, yet. Even if she was unsure about going there alone, she couldn’t fight the excitement of meeting such an interesting place. If she had problems, then she would seek the help of a city guard, just like Solas told her if she had any troubles.

The former mermaid put a cloak on her shoulders and left, walking outside the palace. It didn’t take long for her to reach the city, since only a bridge separated the palace from it, and then the royal road would guide her into the city.

She was amazed by what she saw.  It was full of houses, shops and other buildings, people walked by the crowed road, which was surrounded by many people selling their merchandises. Children ran from one side to the other, laughing and jumping. She had never seen so many humans together; it was such a fascinating place.

Some merchants promoted their goods to her, but she declined them for she had no money. “The best tomatoes, brought from the Free Marches!” “Antivan wine!” “Fine jewelry, fabricated in Orlais, we also have Tevinter ones” “The best fabrics from Orlais! Perfect for any dress!” “Fine Ferelden Cheese! Recommended by the Ferelden King himself!” “Only for today, we’ll sell you our luxury shoes by half the price!”.

Evaneil walked around, seeing the different goods they were selling, just for curiosity. A very large shop stood around what must be the city centre, it had some very beautiful dressed, which looked like the one they had gifted to her. She saw the price and her heart stopped, _did they truly waste so much money on clothes for me?_ She felt like she was abusing from their hospitality, maybe she should thank Cullen for the clothes? Or whoever provided them for her.

Many fancy carriages crossed the city centre, and many nobles walked by, some with their head up, to show that they were above the commoners. She found out she wasn’t the only one looking at the window where the dresses were displayed, a pair of noble women, she supposed for their expensive clothing, who were just as young as her, giggled as they looked at her. “A dirty rabbit dressed as a noble maiden, a dirty rabbit still is…” She ignored them, knowing that they were just classist people with nothing better to do than humiliated people, they weren’t going to ruin her day.

So instead she left the place with a secure walk, for she wouldn’t let them have what they wanted, which was to humiliate her. The women looked scandalous, “Who does she thinks she is! She needs to know her place!”

Evaneil didn’t really know where to go, so she just walked around. The sound of music filled her ears and she went to see who was playing it. On a small dead end, a woman played an instrument and sang a very happy song, while some people danced around, principally children. The former mermaid stood by the side as she enjoyed the scene, wishing to dance, yet she didn’t do so, since she would only interrupt them and neither did she knew how to dance.

She stood by and time passed, three or four songs must have the musician played and now stopped, people clapped and she made a small reverence, thanking for the attention. She had a hat upside down in the floor, where people left many coins. Tips, she remembered Dorian explained to her. It was a voluntary payment to help whoever gave you any free service. There were also the alms; money gave for charity, which was commonly asked by the chantry, who would give it to the poor people.

She wished she had any coin for the musician, but left instead. _Next time, I’ll bring some coins_.

It wasn’t late; she still had time to walk by until it would be lunch time. She kept walking by the city, and somehow, she found herself at the port, where many ships stayed. There were also many people selling seafood, probably collected by them. Also, the people looked so different from each other and spoke with different accents.

But what affected her more wasn’t the port, but the strong smell of the sea. It looked so close and yet it was too far from her, her own home wasn’t at her reach. If she went back, the fate that waited for her was to be a slave to Corypheous. Even if she didn’t want to stay as a human, there would be no other option. _I won’t regret this choice, never…_

“Hey, lovely lady, don’t you wish to accompany me to the bar? I’gotta be at sea for very long, a last night with a lovely lady would be appreciated…” The man’s voice interrupted her thoughts, he was at least twice as old as her, and was leaning too close to her. Another man came forward. He was younger and with a handsome face.

“Hey, Spencer, why don’t you leave the lady alone, she clearly isn’t interested”, the man put his arm around her shoulder and Evaneil feel the need to get off his embrace.

  The older man looked angry at him “I saw her first…” but the man only tightened his grip on her. They discussed over whom she belonged to, but Evaneil only wanted to leave, for she was no property of anyone. But the younger man did not let her go, until she stepped “accidentally” on his foot. The man gave a sound of pain and softened her grip on her and she just ran, she didn’t know where, but as far as she could.

“You fucking bitch! You’re going to pay for this!” she felt how they were running behind her. They were faster than her, who had never truly run in her new life. The only way of scape was to hide somewhere and hope that they didn’t catch her.

Evaneil kept running, until she reached a dead end, there was nowhere to go now, she was trapped and neither was a place to hide. Panic filled her, for she had no idea what were they going to do to her. Her eyes filled with tears out of fear as they appeared at the entry of the dead end. “So, little bitch, where did you think you are going?” the older one spoke.

If she had any voice, she would scream for help, but she didn’t and just hoped for a miracle. The two got closer to her, and the younger one was going to grip her arm, but as if the creators had listen to her, and arrow almost pierced the man’s arm. “What the fuck?!”, a second arrow followed and hit his foot, the older one cursed and went to help his mate, when another fell directly in from of his steps.

“Hey pricks! Ya’ll fucked up cos’ the Red Jennys are here!” a female voice threatened them from the top of the buildings as another arrow almost hit them. The men left running out of fear, like if they had seen the most horrible beast in their lives. “ You all’right? Did those scumbags hurt you?” the woman asked to her as she descended of the buildings with an incredible agility.

She was probably her same age, her blonde hair was cut very short and messy, she had green eyes, almost yellow, and her clothes looked like they were stitched to many times. She just looked at Evaneil, who used her dress to whip out the tears that the panic had caused to her, “Shite, I should have arrived sooner…”

As if trying to console her, the woman petted her head, reassuring her that she was safe now, “What’s your name by the way?”, the former mermaid searched for her notebook and answered her on it and the other woman face looked like she understood the situation “You can’t talk, can you? That’s why you didn’t call for help?” Evaneil nodded. “I see, do you want me to help you get back to your home?”

After all the distance she had run, she didn’t know where she was now or how to get back to the palace, she was lost. “Where do you live? She pointed at the palace, to what the other woman looked surprised, “What are you doing there?”. Evaneil explained that she apparently drowned and that she had no memory from her past before the accident “I see, for a moment I thought that you were a noble prick, but you aren’t and that’s good…you are one of the little people, just like me and almost everyone. Let me then help you get back”.

She didn’t understand what she meant with the “little people” but followed her. “By the way, my name is Sera”.

As they walked back to the palace, Sera talked a lot to Evaneil, like a lot. She told her that she was part of the Friends of the Red Jenny, a band of people that wanted to help the little people, most of the time by seeking justice for them by punishing the people in power. But for her, the best punishment a noble could receive was to embarrass them in front of the other nobles by pranking them; nothing hurt them more than losing their dignity. They had send her to work at the palace, closer to the noble pricks and the crown, working quite closely with the royal spy master. _Why would you need a spy master?_ Evaneil wondered but didn’t ask.

She also mentioned that she had gotten close to the people at the palace, and played a lot of wicked grace with others at the tavern…well, only when she hadn’t already pass out from the alcohol. Evaneil wondered if she knew Dorian, since he mentioned that he would go some nights to play wicked grace with some friends.

“I was bored today, so I said to myself ´why don’t ya go to the city?’ nd’ then saw you been harassed by those assholes…” They made it to the main gate of the palace, it was actually pretty late, pass lunch time, something her belly made sure to warn her of. But there was a small feeling that made her a little bit worried, like if she had forgotten something very important, she would probably remember it later. They entered the palace and a servant received them with an alarmed voice.

“Lady Evaneil! We’ve been looking for you everywhere, Lord Pavus and Lord Solas had been worried about you, please go to see them immediately!” the servants left and Sera looked at her.

“Well, I would also be worried if a pretty little thing like you went missing. I’ll accompany you to see the Egg, not like if I had anything better to do now…” The two women walked towards Solas study and entered after knocking the door. Solas saw her and walked faster towards her, grabbing her by the shoulders, with a very worried expression.

“Evaneil! Where have you been, we’ve been looking for you everywhere, even Cole didn’t know” Solas looked very concerned for her and she could only look at the floor, feeling guilty about worrying them.

Sera stepped between the two, “She’s okay, baldy, she just went to the city but a pair of men chased her and she got lost, good thing that I was doing nothing and saved her…”

Whatever Sera had said, it made Solas far more worried, “What do you mean that two men chased her? Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?” Evaneil just shake her head, Why was Solas so worried about her? Anyways, she was fine…or so she looked.

Until she started to cry out of nowhere. She had been so scared, it was that time when humans catch her as a child all over again, the fear, the panic, it all repeated. She had no idea what they planned to do to her if they had catch her…and that scared her the most. The way they had been looking at her as a shark that is going for its prey. The former mermaid had seen something in their eyes that she had never seen, it send shivers through her body.

She had been weeping and shaking uncontrollably. To her fear it also added her guilty over making the people that had treated her nice worried, they didn’t deserve that. Sera approached to her and hugged her, petting her head and trying to calm her, telling her that she was safe and no one would hurt her.

She saw how Solas left his study, did she made him upset? But her worrying passed as she saw how Cole entered, “They look at me as their prey, what could have they done to me? Did I upset the people that cared for me?” Sera jumped back as she heard him.

“Holy crap! Weirdo get away! No spirits shite please!” the woman must be scared of Cole, and Evaneil just took Cole’s arm, it did not too much to reassure Sera. “I’m sorry but he freaks me out, like a lot!”

“Sorry, I just wanted to help, I’ll go away, but they aren’t upset, they are just worried that something had happened to you…” and the spirit left, Evaneil would talk to him later.

The door opened and Dorian came inside, Solas behind him, “Kaffas! Evaneil, are you all right? Hurt? I was so worried when you didn’t show up to have lunch together…” Evaneil had completely forgotten about that, she was going to have lunch with Dorian today, which was what she didn’t remember!

Yet he didn’t seem upset and gave her a tissue, “Now clean those tears of your face, they don’t suit you, well they don’t suit anyone, not even me” She left an small laugh at his joke and cleaned her face. “Why instead of having lunch, you go and take a relaxing bath and then we can eat some of those cakes that you like, later?” Evaneil nodded and left a small smile.

Sera accompanied her back to her room and asked the servants to prepare her a bath, “I’ll come to see you later, have a nice bath and don’t forget to get nice’n clean”. She left and Evaneil could help but feel grateful for how she treated her, she seemed like a nice person. The mermaid thought that maybe they could become friends.

 

Now that she was more relaxed than before, she went to see Dorian but before she could even step out of her room, the man appeared in from of her. “See you’re doing better” she nodded “Good, let’s go then…”

They walked to the gardens and she saw how a table was set at one side, filled with cakes on top of it. The two sat there and Dorian made a gesture to invite her to eat, and so did she. Evaneil lost count of how many cakes had she eaten already, but the fact that she hadn’t had lunch and that she loved those cakes, made her feel hungrier than she was used to. She was making a mess out of her, but Dorian didn’t say anything.

“So, sweetheart, what did you do?” Evaneil told him about everything she had seen at the city, the merchants, the people, the stores, the noble women that had laughed at her and how she didn’t let them make her feel inferior, to what the man laughed, saying she was learning from him how to deal with those presumptuous people. She wrote about the woman that had been singing and how she had loved her voice and the music she played.

He looked glad that she enjoyed herself for the most part and added, “Next time, ask me to go with you, I’m an excellent guide”. Dorian said that he would take her to the royal gallery and the royal academy, and the small forest that was nice to have a picnic at. She couldn’t help herself but feeling very excited at the idea.

They talked a lot, or more like Dorian talked a lot. Now it was very dark, the sun had just faded and the moon was shining at the sky, with little stars accompanying her. “Hey! Why don’t you come with me to the tavern, we could play wicked grace, drink something and I’ll present you my friends. Evan Sera will be there” She nodded and they left the garden.

The tavern was a small house just at the outsides of the palace, but it belonged to the crown. Music and laughs came out of it; _they must be having a lot of fun_ , she thought. Evaneil had just learnt that music and drink could make funny entertainments; it made people relax and have a good time. It could sometimes end in a completely mess, but the fun that it gave was worth it.

They made it inside and she saw how everyone was dancing all over the place, while they had their ale in their hands. Many had already drink too much. Dorian guided her to the side, were a group of people were sitting on a table and playing Wicked Grace.

Sera noticed her and greeted her, “Pretty! Seeing ur good, want a drink?” Evaneil refused it, she wasn’t a drinker. Dorian then presented her two the other three men.

“This is Evaneil, our handsome prince found her unconscious by the beach, or so you must have been told. She doesn’t remember anything and can’t actually talk, so I, Dorian Pavus, became her dashing teacher so she could learn to read and write”. A man stood up from his chair, he was short, like really short, was he a dwarf? He had ginger hair and his shirt was open enough to reveal some of his chest hair.

“Varric Thethras at your service, story teller and to some, bad traveling company, but that’s debatable”, He extended his hand and she took it and shake it, just like Dorian had teach her.

Another man came towards her, a very tall one. _He is a Qunari_. His skin was grey toned, a pair of horns were part of his head and a patch covered one of his eyes, “Hello, I’m The Iron Bull, you can call me just Bull” they shake hands. “I’m the lider of The Chargers…” She didn’t understand and just like if the quanari had read her mind, he explained to her, “We are a mercenary company, it’s been two years since we started to work for the crown, any time they need to punch someone but can’t afford to send their men, we go. They pay us very well and the people here are very pretty” He winked an eye, but she didn’t understood and he just laughed.

The last man who greeted her was human, with a very large brown beard, “My lady, my name is Blackwall, I’m in charge of the city guard with the royal guard. It’s nice to meet you”.

Sera cried “Why don’t we resume our game and then ask Pretty about her?!” They all sat to play, Evaneil ended up between Dorian and Sera, but she did not play with them.

As time passed by, Varric started to ask her things “Do you remember your home place?” she negated “Or anything at all?” The answer was a no; she couldn’t tell anyone about her past. “Wow, appeared from the sea with no memory of anything that happened before…I’ll call you Mermaid!” Evaneil froze in her place, had he discovered her? _Oh Creators please no!_

“Don’t worry, Varric always makes up nickname for everyone’s, at least yours is not that terrible”, Dorian reassured her.

“I’m very creative, Sparkler, a nick name distinguish a person more than their real name could” Varric explained and she thanked however was listen to her that it was just a joke and that she hadn’t been discovered.

“I’ll still call you Pretty…” Sera announced, “Now, can we go down to business or I’ll drink myself to dead”.

They continued, for what seemed to be four hours, playing and talking. Sera had gotten herself completely drunk and Bull had been flirting with Dorian, saying to him things that she had no understanding of. Blackwall had fallen asleep in his chair, so now it was just her and Varric who remained conscious, but she was feeling too sleepy. He must have noticed her tired eyes for he offered her to walk her back to the palace and she accepted.

They walked until they reached the main hall, “Well, Mermaid, I’ll leave you here. Next time join us again, for I’ll teach you how to play and not lose as much as Dorian did now…Good night then, Mermaid”. Evaneil made her farewell and left to her room, where she felt asleep in an instant, tired of that very moved day.

 

The next day Dorian asked her if she had enjoyed her time with them, to what she answered that she did so and that Varric had invited her to go the next time, something she truly wanted to do. “Good, they are really good friends of mine…Unlike that handsome bastard that doesn’t spend time with us just to court a noble bitch…” He said that as if he was angry at someone but Evaneil just didn’t understand the situation. “Don’t worry about what I said, let’s go back to our lesson”.

It was a very strange situation, but she was happy that maybe she made some friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 8000 words! THAT was a chapter. Too many things happening at once, but it didn't felt right to split it in two chapters.   
> Dorian, Sera and Cole are adorable people that deserve all the love, but I hope that I did write Sera's dialog like she speaks, cause I'm not a native english speaker and it did give me some troubles.  
> Also, Varric gave her the most accurate nickname ;)  
> I hope you had a happy reading and I'll see you in the next chapter (Which I think will take me two weeks or three, since this is my last month at school before I graduate and they are taking all the exams in less than twelve days. Also, I have to prepare the university selection exam, which I'll take in two months, so wish me luck).


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

She had enjoyed herself with them, at least now she wasn’t so lonely as how she had been at her arrival. They were her friends, especially Sera, who came to see her very often, because she wasn’t a noble or a servant that could be too concentrated on working. The two young women would sit at the roof of the tavern, something Evaneil had been scared to do so at first, but the other woman convinced her otherwise, saying that it was a good spot to look at everyone that passed by.

Sera talked about the last work she had to do, how she pranked a rich man with poison, not a deadly one, but it left him a terrible acne on his face. “Freaking nobles don’t like to look bad, like if they could look shittier than they already do”, Evaneil just laughed and wrote to her _Are they really that bad?_ “Yes, they are horrible people who thinks themselves to be better than the rest and don’t mind to step on other people to get what they want”. _Really?_ It made her remember about the nobles back at her home, they weren’t nice to others, even if in the end they were all part of the sea. “They only care about balls, pretty clothes and get a good marriage that will end up giving them more power and wealth. I hate them!”

“That’s why I work with the little people for the little people, you get’m right? Sometimes those nobles pricks come and say shit about us to our prince Cully Wully, but he doesn’t hear them and says that he’ll look in to it, but he does nothing”.

Evaneil felt like that was something Cullen would do, since when they were children he always complained about them. _Good to see that some things don’t change…_

“One of this days I’m unleashing a bag of spiders on them, that’s what they deserve” Sera exclaimed.

They saw that many nobles were arriving to the palace, their carriages left them at the main gate and servants guided them inside. “Too many of these pricks, means I have work to do. I’ll see you later!” Sera climbed the main walls of the palace and sneaked inside of the building. If there was something that Evaneil admired from her, not counting her need to help the little people, was her extreme agility and talent to climb things and buildings. Fast and spry as a cat.

Well, since she was left alone, she thought about what she could do now in the meantime. She could go to the library to find something to read, maybe the book that Varric had said he had written. She came down to the ground and walked back to the palace.

She didn’t want to get any close to the nobles, so instead of entering by the main gate, she would use the kitchen entry. She was now just a common girl and she knew better than to get any trouble with nobles. B _ut you weren’t before_ , daughter of the kings of the sea, ancient blood ran in her veins, but she had never cared. Evaneil had never been interested on whatever the noble life could provide to her, it was such a boring life, which may had been the main reason she spent most of her time away of the castle, looking for any human object she could get her hands on.

But the thing she most hated about nobles was their luxury lives, when they didn’t even work, while some people worked more than they should just to feed their families. It was an injustice she couldn’t pretend to like, unlike her parents, who keep their eyes closed on that matter, as long as the commoners didn’t starve, it was alright.

The door that lead to the kitchen of the palace was closed, something that only meant that she would have to enter by the main gate, passing between all of those nobles. She wished she had Sera agility to climb the walls, but it was impossible, so she just sighted on defeat.

When she got just outside of the main gate, she saw that she would have to pass very quickly and as silent as possible to get unnoticed. She entered and saw all those people gathering inside, women wearing luxurious dresses, who talked between them and men wearing normal noble clothes and others with their military uniform, who looked concerned about something.

She had been walking with the far side, when a female voice called her “So, it’s you”. The woman had blue eyes and dark hair, she remembered her from the party at the ship, she had danced with Cullen that night. “I found you by the beach; I thought you were dead in that moment. Why are you still here?” The woman looked at her with derogatory eyes, as if she was something below her. Evaneil tried to find her notebook to answer her, but she continued, “Cullen needs to stop getting along with people of…your status. A king should be surrounded by his kind, not by some commoners and pariahs”. She left and went towards a group of noble women, who looked at Evaneil and laughed.

“What is doing an ordinary girl here? Is she a servant or something?”

“Look at that hair, who could ever use it short?”

“She probably gave the prince pity and that’s why she is staying here…”

“You never know with these people, they get too comfy and the next day they are gone, just like the jewels and gold…”

Their comments hurt Evaneil, she knew they were despicable people, and yet she couldn’t help but to think that she shouldn’t be here anymore, that she was abusing of their hospitality. She shake her head, _No, Cullen said I could stay here until I got better or I got my memories back…but I’m lying, I do remember everything…_

Now she was at the brink of tears _, don’t give them the satisfaction of seeing you cry_. Evaneil walked to the terrace that lead to the garden, she had to think better and the fresh air would help her. But as she rested there, a calloused hand took her by the shoulder.

“Hello, lovely lady, don’t concern yourself with their words…they are far too below of your level” the man whispered on her ear and she turned around to see him. Yellowish eyes, surrounded by dark eyes bags, pale skin that looked sick and greasy dark hair. He wore a military uniform, who was he? “Forgive me, lady, but I couldn’t keep my eyes out of you, you are just too beautiful and lovely... and lonely, just like me…” He got himself closer to her “Do you mind to keep me some company? Two lonely souls should stay together after all”. She tried to get away from him, but he had her trapped between his body and the balcony. _Someone please get him away from me._

“Samson!” She recognised Cullen’s voice and she thanked whoever had listen to her pleads, “Left her alone”, he approached and she noticed that he was pretty angry and annoyed, but the other man didn’t let her go.

“But she was so lonely…besides, we are having so much fun right now”, Cullen looked at her for any sign that said that Samson was right, but she only gave him a scared look.

“No, she isn’t. Now let her go or I’ll call the guards” his hand left her body and he stepped back.

“You are no fun, I’ll see you at the war table…” but before he left, Samson said to her “Don’t worry, I won’t keep my eyes out of you, yet…” he gave her a grin and left. She felt the colours of her face fade away, what did he mean?

Cullen’s hand touched her shoulder on a reassuring way, “Don’t worry, he doesn’t really mean it, but I’m sorry that he scared you. I give you my word that it won’t happen again, lady Evaneil”. She wrote a quick thank you on her notebook, and after reading it he just nodded “Don’t worry. If you excuse me, my lady, I have some urgent matters to attend to, have a good day”.

And he left again. At least this time she had been able to say something to him, even if it was just a thank you in such a bad situation. But she would have preferred that the man hadn’t get closer to her, even if that meant that she wouldn’t be able to speak with Cullen.

She wondered what kind of urgent matters they had to attend to…

 

* * *

 

Cullen entered in to the war room, where the highest ranked soldiers were waiting, while his spy master, Leliana, was looking in to some reports and so did Josephine, their ambassador. Cassandra and the rest just looked at the map.

“Excuse me for my lateness…” It was Samson’s fault, if he hadn’t harassed lady Evaneil, then Cullen could have made it in time. He was already late because lady Madelyne thought it was a good time to speak then, “If we are ready, let’s begin”.

Leliana took the reports and read them “Some days ago, a group of people committed violent attacks against our own people on a village close to the Orlesian border. Our agents have said that they may be part of a larger group that has been causing damage on many kingdoms and nations, like Orlais and Ferelden. They demand the restoration of the Tevinter Empire…”

One of the captains exclaimed “If Tevinter wants a war, we should start by taking as a hostage that tevinter mage!” Many agreed on it, but Cullen did not.

“Dorian Pavus is a close friend of mine, he’s not a traitor and I won’t punish him for the acts of violence that some may make in name of his homeland” Josephine agreed on him.

“Ser Pavus is currently a student of Lady Vivienne de Fer and related to the Travelyans, which is one of the oldest houses in our country, isn’t it, Lord Maxwell?” The man, who had the same black hair and blue eyes as his sister, stepped forward.

“Yes, our family is one of the oldest and we share bloodline with many important houses in the continent. I may not like my cousin, but he’s no traitor”. That calmed their complains, since any Travelyan member held a great influence on the other nobles; they wouldn’t risk to disagree with them.

“This is a very strange group, I’ll have my spies looking into it for any sign” Leliana said.

“I suppose it should be better if we double the guards on every village, town and city, especially on the harbour” Cassandra announced, “Also double the guards at the palace, just in case they attempt something on the crown”. Everyone agreed, Cullen wasn’t going to allow that any of his people suffered because of a small group.

The prince couldn’t help but notice that Samson had been quiet during all the meeting, something strange in his behaviour. He sensed that something was wrong, but everything felt wrong with Samson. “That would be all for now, we’ll have a meeting as soon as we get any information, but remember that our people safety is the most important matter”. The soldiers and lords left, including the three women. The only ones left were Maxwell, Samson and him.

“Your Grace, can I talk to you later, alone?” Cullen nodded and Maxwell left to the outsides of the room.

He looked at Samson with questioning eyes “Oh, you catch me; I was too distracted thinking about that lovely lady you are hosting here. What’s her name?”

“Evaneil” Cullen was getting annoyed at the other man’s behaviour, “She’s my guest, so I ask you to not to bother her anymore”.

Samson just laughed “I’m sorry, but it just that I’ve never seen a woman as beautiful as her and it broke my heart to listen all the shit the noble women said about her, the poor thing was at the brink of tears…” _Which noble women?_ “They laughed at her, as another said what kind of person was she to be allowed to stay at the palace, that she may be abusing of your hospitality”.

He felt angry at their behaviour towards Evaneil, who had done nothing wrong and became quite closer to his inner circle, or so Dorian said. She wasn’t abusing of his hospitality, on the contrary, the other day he received a letter from her thanking him for the dresses and accommodations, that she’ll find a way to pay him in return. “Who said that?”

“Your lady Travelyan of course…” Cullen knew that she didn’t like his inner circle, but saying ill things about any of them, specially about someone that was his guest, was not a thing he could let pass. He would have to talk to her about it… “Well, who can blame her when there is another woman much more beautiful than her, especially someone who catch every men gaze…” Samson blinked at him, _what does he mean?_

“It seems like I’ll have to leave sooner, a pity. I truly wanted to flirt more with that lady” The other man left the room, leaving Cullen alone.

Samson had never seemed so catch with a woman before, at least that Cullen remembered. Normally he would talk about only those women he managed to take to his bed, never those that weren’t interested, like Evaneil.

Well, she was really beautiful and the short hair had suited her very well. He wouldn’t want to admit that she took his breath away the first time he saw her. Instead, he told himself that she was _almost_ as pretty as lady Madelyne. Actually, she had been expending a lot of time with Dorian and Sera, even Cole seemed to like her. And let’s not forget of his mabari who practically exchanged him for her.

Yet, there was something familiar about her, like if he had already met her, but in a more personal way. Anyways, there were many people that had that effect on others. Dorian said that she was a nice and gentle woman, and very intelligent since it just took her a couple of weeks to learn how to read and write, even if it was on a very basic way.

Yes, she was a remarkable woman, not just for her beauty, but for her intelligence and kindness. But Lady Travelyan was better, or so he told himself.

He remembered that he had to talk with Lord Travelyan, so he left the war room and went to the main hall, where the other man was waiting with his sister. “Lord Maxwell, you wished to talk privately?”

“Yes, Your Grace, why don’t we go outside to the gardens to talk?” The two of them left towards the gardens, where they walked side by side. “I must first thank you for coming to our little dinner, my family was very glad, especially my sister”.

“It was no problem, I was very glad that you had invited me” Cullen thanked.

“My sister seems to really like you, I may even say that she fancies in love with you. She’s my only sister and I worry about her, so I may ask, what are your intentions with Madelyne?”.

Cullen didn’t really know how to answer that question, he had to find a wife quickly, and she was a lovely lady, she was in love with him and he couldn’t deny that she is a very beautiful woman. _But Evaneil is more beautiful_ , a part of his mind said. He wasn’t in love with Madelyne; he was just making sure she was decent woman to have as a queen. Yet, there was nothing certain.

“She is a lovely lady, I’m trying to get to know her better, and maybe I’ll get to reciprocate her feelings” He answered just as Josephine had teach him, never lie and never tell the truth, give a vague answer.

“Good, I’m sure you will. My sister is the best lady that you’ll find here; she is intelligent and beautiful, not to mention her talent at singing and dancing, as you could see during our dinner”. That night, Lady Madelyne had played the piano and sang, she did have a beautiful voice.

“Yes, I do, you must be a very proud brother”.

“We all are. Now, with your permission, I must return to my duties. I wish you a good evening” Maxwell left and Madelyne came towards him.

“What were you talking about?” He knew she knew what they have talked, but still lied to her.

“Just politics” It was actually not so false, since his marriage idea was for politic matters, to please the nobles that had been concerned about it. Also, having a heir was something very necessary, even if he could name his nephews as his successors, that wouldn’t bring the same political stability as a child of his own. But getting married would be the first step.

“Oh…” she made a very false surprised expression, “I’ve been wondering, why don’t we go out one of these days? “

“I would be glad to, but I’m very busy right now, perhaps when I have some time left” She looked clearly disappointed. “I must attend to my duties, my lady, have a nice day” He kissed her hand and left.

* * *

 

The rest of the afternoon passed by very quickly, even if he had done nothing but working, reading letters, sign documents, solve the problems that people would ask for help, making lists of what had to be done and many other things. He didn’t like that part of being their kingdom’s ruler, reading tons of papers every day and involving himself in politics. He preferred to talk directly with his people; he was more familiar with their daily life in that way. Cullen also missed his time as a soldier, preparing his soldiers for battles that he wished did not come, getting up early to train all day. Life was easier when he just had to worry about protecting his people and didn’t have to worry about nobles and politics. 

When he was a soldier, he made sure to get to know every man and woman that were his companions, where did they come, did they have a family, why were they fighting for. The best way to win someone’s trust was to trust them too, which meant that he didn’t actually behave like the prince he was, but as the normal man he had always been.

But then Mia fell in love with another king, leaving him on the position she had given up. And who was he to deny his own sister’s happiness? So he left his military career, and instead took the position of being the ruler, something he still didn’t quite like.

It was already late and he needed some distraction, for he wasn’t going to concentrate anymore on the evening, normally he would play chess with Mia or Dorian, but in the last month he had been too busy to play at least once. Maybe today he would be able to.

Firstly he would have to find Dorian and convince him to play, something that would be quite difficult, since he was still angry about the fact that he had set his inner circle asides to court Lady Madelyne. Especially since he hated her.

It was likely that his friend would be at the library, but when he entered, he didn’t find him there. A servant told him that Dorian didn’t came to the library with lady Evaneil as they were used to do at that time of the day; instead they were at the gardens.

Cullen would have just to search for him then, but the gardens were too big. But he thanked the Maker for his friend’s loud voice, which came from one of the secret little gardens, the same one where they would play chess.

“Kaffas! It’s really not that complicated woman!” Dorian was talking to someone, which meant that he wasn’t alone. “Let’s try again, move that piece, not, the other one, the pawn, not there, to the other side, the other other side!”

Cullen entered in to the small garden and found Dorian and lady Evaneil playing, but he guessed that for the things he had said, she had no idea of how to play. Dorian saw him and greeted him “See who’s here!” The woman turned around and she froze in her place as she saw him, or so he noticed. “Did you came here to see our suffering over a game of chess?”

“Actually, I was looking for you to play, but I see you found a new partner, so I’ll better leave you” he came forward and saw that she had only three pieces left and they were a mess.

Dorian responded him “Wow! Are you jealous?” the two men just laughed a bit. And suddenly, Dorian had an expression that only said that he had gotten a good idea “You know what, since you are a better player than me at chess and I’m just too tired, why don’t you teach her that the pieces can be moved when it’s someone else turn?”. Cullen looked at Evaneil, who looked very surprised at his friend’s idea and actually …terrified? He wondered why.

“Yes, I could- I mean, if she wants to…” She gave just a little nod. Dorian offered him his chair

“Good luck, you’ll need it” His friend left him alone with the young lady, who was looking down at the ground shyly. They set the pieces to the original position, but he couldn’t help but notice that she was very nervous. Maybe it was because he is the prince? But that really didn’t make that much sense, she didn’t look like she cared for those titles.

“It looks like I’ll have to teach you, let’s begin then…”

* * *

 

Some time passed and Evaneil seemed to understand the basics at least, but they had been very silent, except for him saying the rules and ways to play. Maybe she was scared to “talk” with him after what those women had said of her. He would have to make her feel comfortable then.

“I used to play with my sister Mia, the face she made when she won, which was almost every time. One day I decided I had enough and trained with my brother for many weeks every day. The face she made when I finally won…” He smiled at that memory and she handed him her notebook, asking him _you have any siblings?_ And he answered “Yes, two sisters and a brother, even though they don’t live here anymore”. _Why?_ “My younger brother married three years ago and now lives at a small palace with his wife north from here” They continued playing, “My little sister, Rosaline, is staying as a guest of the King of Ferelden” He showed her where she should move the next piece “My older sister, Mia, left a month ago. She is getting married to a king of a small kingdom; the celebration will take place in a few months”.

He wouldn’t lie, he missed his siblings, even if they were very loud, and without his family he felt very lonely. “Look, put the pawn there and you will defeat my knight” She looked very concentrated as she moved the pawn, making her look cute. But she looked cute almost every time.

“Have you been alright here? I hope that Dorian didn’t cause you any problems, but I suppose Sera already has”. She answered him _No, they haven´t, they have only been nice to me._ “I see, Dorian looks very fond of you” She smiled shyly _I hope so_.

He continued teaching her and they actually talk a lot, asking questions to each other. Apparently, Varric was trying to teach her to play Wicked Grace, Solas talked a lot to her about his magic and Sera had become very close to her, appearing without a warning at her bedroom in the middle of the night sometimes.

He was glad she was having a good time here; especially after everything she went through. Cullen asked her if she remembered anything, but she wrote that she didn’t. It made him sad; she probably had a family that was looking for her, scared that maybe she had died. If one of his siblings went missing and couldn’t be found, he would be desperate to find them, no matter the cost.

It was getting too late already; Cullen had many things to do tomorrow, so it was better to end their game here. Evaneil wasn’t doing so badly, apparently Dorian just lacked patience.” My Lady, it’s getting very late, it would be better to leave it here. Allow me to accompany you back to your room”.

They stored the chess pieces and walked back to the insides of the palace. They walked silently to her bedroom and said goodbye, to what she wrote to him, _Thank you for teaching me, I promise I’ll get better at it._

“You just need to practice more. Goodnight, Evaneil, sleep well…” He left and he couldn’t stop the feeling that maybe he enjoyed his time with her more than he should have. She was a kind woman, intelligent and very beautiful. Who wouldn’t enjoy their time with her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what I love? That my teacher listen to our complains about having too many test and they actually do something about it. They gave me the entire week free of exams, which allowed me to write.
> 
> Have some Cullen's POV <3  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to leave kudos and comments, since it makes me truly happy and gaves me motivation when i fell depressed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evaneil meets a new friend and gets a full explanation on the matters of human reproduction.

Evaneil had spent the morning very happy; she had “talked” with the man that held her heart! He was so kind, just like she remembered; always so concerned for his family and friends. She wondered if he had enjoyed his time with her as well. Or so she hoped for, for not being the last time she could spend some time with him.

Yet, she couldn’t shake from her mind the words that the noble woman had said to her “Cullen should be surrounded by people of his kind, not by some commoners…” She was now only a common woman and a very ordinary one, _what could he ever see on me? I’ve got no talents, no lands of fortune, nothing to offer to him but my love. Maybe I shouldn’t spend my time with him, or even with Dorian…_

It hurt her badly and tears gathered in her eyes. _What could I ever offer him that the noble women did not have?_ Maybe she was a stupid little mermaid that had been following something she would never have.

But she had decided that her life had to continue, her dream of getting to know the human world was strongest than the romantic fantasies she had. Her curiosity was stronger, she would live on even if he would never ever love her.

Evaneil needed to clean her mind, so she left for the library, where the books would be her comfort as always. Actually, there was one book she had been reading that she had liked very much, even if she didn’t understand some expressions on it. Varric had written it himself, one of his best-sellers. Even if he didn’t quite like it, he did recommend it to her.

She had only read the first chapter and she was already very excited with it, the only thing that kept her from reading more was the fact that it had been too late and a servant had told her to leave the library, because it would be locked during the night.

So, now she hoped she would at least read half of it, she needed to know what was going to happen in the book. But when she went to get it at the place where she had leaved it, she was shocked at seeing that the book wasn’t there! Maybe someone took it or the servants stored it elsewhere. Her only option was to search for it.

The former mermaid searched almost every shelf that there where in the library, but without luck, the book was nowhere to be seen. When she had almost given up on finding it, between some shelfs, on a corner of the library, was someone reading the book. It looked like if the person didn’t want to be found, hiding between all the books.

She came forward quietly, trying to make no sound as she got closer and the woman was surprised when she saw that the person was another woman, a very beautiful indeed. She had short black hair and strong features, with a scar marking one of her checks, an armour covered her body, hiding the strong figure she must had underneath it.

Evaneil had been to concentrated looking at the other woman that she didn’t notice that her arm had pushed a book of it shelf, letting it fall loudly to the ground. The woman rose quickly and shouted with a serious voice “Who’s there?!” The woman came forward to where she was standing and asked her harshly “What are you doing here?”. She wrote as fast as she could in her small notebook, scared and intimidated by the woman. _I was only searching for the book you are reading, since I didn’t find it on its usual place, I thought that a servant had placed it elsewhere…_

The woman looked surprised and hided the book behind her back, “What book?! I wasn’t reading any book! I don’t know what you are talking about!” _Yes you were_ “No, I wasn’t!”. Evaneil just sighted in defeat and asked for the book, writing that she was just on the beginning of it and it was consuming her curiosity. “Did you… did you reach the part when the knight captain kissed the count?” she negated. _So, you haven’t read the book?_

The woman walked back to the chair where she had been reading and looked down at the book, “It’s not proper for a person like me to read this literature…this smutty literature…” She didn’t understand what she meant by smutty, but she didn’t ask. “But it has such a good story, and the romance and the action…” She understood the feeling, it was a good book, but wasn’t it proper? She asked why “I’m the Captain of the Royal Guard, my status should scare the crown’s enemies, and the fact that I do like romantic stories will just make them laugh at me. Besides, Varric wouldn’t let me heard the end of it”.

_I see…don’t worry, your secret is safe with me_ , she gave her the small note and the other woman looked surprised “I-I Thank you very much” The woman gave her the book back “I haven’t presented myself properly, I’m Cassandra Penthagast, and you are?” _Evaneil_ “So you are the woman that Cullen found by the beach?” she nodded, it was funny of how people knew about her just for that.

“What do you think is going to happen next?” _They will defeat the bad guys and be happy, that’s how love stories should end…_ Cassandra looked surprised at her “Well…just continue reading it, you may be surprised…”

They talked for an hour or so about the book, and the woman recommended her other books that she may like. Cassandra had looked scary and fierce at first, but then she was very gentle and kind, something Evaneil found funny. But then it was time for Cassandra to leave to attend to her duties, saying that she would be glad to speak again with her about books.

She also said that it would be better for her to read the rest of the book from the chapter twenty one alone in her room at night. The former mermaid didn’t understand what she meant by that, but she would do it anyways, since there had to be a reason of why she suggested that.

Evaneil spend a large part of the evening reading, until it was almost 4 o’clock, time to meet with Sera, so she left the book in her bedroom, in that way she could continue it later or in the morning.

The tavern was almost empty, one or two guards that were out of duty had been drinking ale and talking. Bull wasn’t there as usual, which meant he had left for a mission with the rest of the chargers, or maybe he was just training. She walked up to the second floor, where Sera lived on a small room, if it could be called that; it had many windows that lead to the roof of the tavern and it was full of pillows everywhere, making it a very comfy place to stay.

Sera was waiting for her at the door place “I started to fear that you wouldn’t come, but you are here so we good. How was your day?” Evaneil wrote about what happened with the noblewoman yesterday, of how badly did she treat her even if she had done nothing. “A woman with dark, curly hair and blue eyes?” She nodded “Ugh! That’s the Travelyan bitch; she seems nice at first, until the nobles don’t have their eyes on her. I’ve heard that she has thrown a bowl with hot soup at a servant just because it wasn’t at the perfect temperature, but after that she paid the servant as many money as necessary to keep him silent, not wanting to ruin her reputation. That fucking bitch believes she’s better than anyone just because she’s a rich pretty noble lady, I can’t believe that Cully has been considering marrying her!”

_What?!_ It hit her like a bucket with cold water _, He…he is considering to marry her? Creators please, make this a lie…_ Pain filled her heart as she pictured the scene; Cullen formally dressed as he held tenderly lady Travelyan’s hand, who only looked as beautiful as a goodness in her wedding dress, he looking at her with only love in his eyes…

There was sadness, but also an anger building inside her. _She is not a good woman, he deserves better!_ She would like to say that she deserved to be in that spot instead of Travelyan, but she knew that she wasn’t even close to be as perfect as the noblewoman looked. Evaneil didn’t find herself prettier than the rest, she was a poor woman, without any titles or lands or money, no talents, no grace, nothing…she was nothing compared to her.

“But…!” Sera voice catch her mind, taking her away from those thoughts “Cully Wully wouldn’t marry her, no if he knows what kind of woman she is, and trust me, her true face will be shown to him in little time. She hates us, his friends, so much that she won’t be able to hold it very longer. And whatever she told you is not true, you are more than welcome here, you are our pal ,the only female pal I’ve had in a lot of time! Besides, just in my personal opinion, you are far more beautiful, and your lovely cuteness makes you not just pretty, but sexier…” Sera winked at her, but Evaneil had no idea of what was she talking about. “She must be jealous of you”.

The former mermaid also explained to her what happened with that soldier, if she recalled correctly, his name was Samson. Sera looked surprised and worried “He’s one of the highest generals of the army, but a shitty person. It wouldn’t be surprised if he had actually harassed his superiors to get to where he is now…” She had felt that he could be dangerous, his eyes were looking at her as a shark that looks at his prey, and the sick looking of him didn’t help either. “No one of the Red Jennys has actually punished him, he scares us all…” Sera held her hand on a reassuring way “He is a dangerous man, Evaneil. Sure Cullen can keep him in line, but he’s a dangerous and terrible man, especially around women…If he comes close to you again, run, don’t think it a second, the far you are from him, the better”

Evaneil ended up more worried than she was before, but she continued explaining her day; Of how Dorian had wanted to teach her to play chess, but it ended up on a real mess, enough to make him leave when the prince walked by. Cullen had taught her, with lots of patience, and now she knew how to play. She wasn’t good…but decent enough to not to be an embarrassment. But she didn’t mention of how happy she had been to spend some time with him, obviously.

When she mentioned about how they had “talked” about each other, the other woman left a small laugh “That man has a stick up in his arse, if you know what I mean. He will make a good king, but he needs to relax first and have fun, or else he’ll end up as a very grumpy cat that no one wants to pet” Evaneil just laughed a little at the comment.

But she didn’t mention her about Cassandra, since she had made a promise and she wouldn’t break it. Sera continued talking about her day and how she pranked some nobles, the royal ambassador was furious at her. Her friend searched behind her, pulling out a plate with cookies on it “So, I made some cookies…”

Sera offered her a cookie and she tasted it. It wasn’t good, but she didn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings, but she already knew “They are terrible, aren’t they? I still hate them!”

“I was caught stealing when I was little, it could have been bad, but the Lady Emmald took me in. She was sick and couldn’t have children. I had no parents. It worked out…Any way; she gets a year sicker, so I ask her about her cookies. Because mums make cookies. I can pass that down, or something” Evaneil’s mother never made her cookies, well, because they don’t exist under the sea, but if she had been human, her mother would have make her some.  “Turns out, she couldn’t cook. She missed that talk with her mun. The ones she made, bought and pretended. Aw, right?” Sera paused “Well, no, she was a bitch. She hid buying them by keeping me away from the baker. She did that by lying that he didn’t like me, that he didn’t like poor people. She let me hate so she could protect her pride. I hated him so much, and I hate…” She stopped, looking confused or lost, not knowing what to say. “Well, she died, and I hate pride. Pride cookies”.

Then she looked at her with a smile “But! This friendship thing is working out. So I figured I could make some…Friendship cookies? Because then I could like them again? Ugh, It’s stupid” She looked away, like if she had said the most embarrassing thing in the world, but Evaneil was still shocked that she had said she was her friend…

She felt happy, incredible happy to feel cared of, while Sera still looked embarrassed. How could she reassure her that it wasn’t stupid and it made her happy? Words wouldn’t be enough…

So she hugged her friend, who only made a surprise noise “Wait, you don’t think it’s stupid?” Evaneil negated. “Well, I think it’s not really about the cookies. I hate learning lessons, it mades my stomach hurt”. The youngest girl left n small laugh.

“Anyway, I’ll throw this rubbish away. Next time will be better, yeah?” Evaneil gave her thumbs up approving the idea. They left to the insides of the tavern; the place was already getting crowned, meaning it was time for their wicked grace sessions.

She sat at their table, at the very end of the place, where they wouldn’t be disturbed. Sera had forgotten something and said that she would be back in no time. The door opened, letting the Iron Bull enter to the place, and sat across her.

“Mermaid! Good to see you” She greeted him back. “HEY PRETTY! A drink!” he called to one of the servants, a woman with red curly hair, who gave him a wink in return. “Ah! Redheads, the best creation in the world. Got her last night in my bed, a nice pair of tits, but don’t tell Dorian” he winked at her. What did he mean by “getting her in his bed”? Why did he care about her breast? And why shouldn’t she tell Dorian? There had been many of those expressions in her book, but she didn’t dare to ask.

“She tried to ride the bull, but didn’t fail” Did he mean riding him as a horse? Or something else? “But I’ve been trying to convince Dorian to do so, no luck yet, but he’ll fall, I’m sure of it. Unless his pride stops him from having fun” She still didn’t understand a thing of what he was talking about, something that must have shown in her face. He only looked at her and laughed out of nowhere. What had been so fun? She was about to ask him, when the rest came inside, wishing to play their card game.

They started to gamble their money and drank until most of them were drunk, except for Varric and her, who didn’t drink that much. Lucky was on Varric and Bull’s side, whole Dorian had almost lost every coin he had left. Sera was already sleeping in her chair and Blackwall was almost sleeping too.

Suddenly, between their chat, Bull said to Dorian “Hey Dorian! What if you lose, you pay me in my bedroom?” Some of them laughed, Evaneil didn’t understand and Dorian was red as a tomato.

“Thanks the offer, but no, I’ll prefer pay you with money” the rest laughed again.

“Well then, your loose”, then he got closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders “Then I’ll give this offer to our pretty mermaid, she’ll enjoy it” Evaneil was now REALLY confused and looked at everyone for an explanation of what was happening. Bull laughed again and the rest followed, making her feel stupid for not understanding. “Oh the little innocent thing, she must even know that sex is not only for having children”.

Why was she innocent? What was sex? Why was it for having children? Her confusion was total now, something Varric must have noticed. “Wait Tiny, I think she doesn’t have any idea of what are you talking about…” The laughing died and everyone looked surprised at her, even Sera had woken up.

She wrote then _I have no idea of what you are talking about. What is sex_? They looked at themselves, Varric talking to them first. “All right guys, who’s going to give her _the talk_?” Sera raised her hand “No Sera, not you”. What did he mean by the talk?

In the end Varric stood up and sighted, asking her to follow him to the corner of the tavern “Well mermaid, what I’m going to tell you is going to change your life in every aspect. Let’s start by the beginning…When mommy and daddy love each other so much…”

 

And so, an hour of Varric explaining how people had children. How when mommy and daddy loved each other so much that they would kiss, get naked and then the man would put his seed in the woman’s egg. And a full explanation of how they would put them together inside the woman’s body.

It was hell, Evaneil decided. _So they can kiss each other and touch everyplace of their bodies? How does the man put the seed in? But isn’t that thing used to piss? How would it fit? Why men like women’s breast? What’s an orgasm? Oh… WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY SAYING THAT THE LITTLE HOLE ALLOWS THE BABY TO COME OUT?!! THE BABY WOULD LITTERALLY STREACH HER OPEN!!_

And these were some of the many questions she asked, some Varric said would be better to find them for herself. But now many of the things she read and heard made sense to her. The painting with a naked couple lying across the bed, parts of Swords and Shields, the comments Bull did. Everything was revealed now and curiosity killed the mermaid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took long, but i've been very busy with the end of the year. In just a week I have the university exam, and if everything goes well, I'll be able to study arts in a good university.
> 
> I'm thinking about rewritting the first two chapters, since they are written horrible, but after the exam.  
> THANKS FOR READING! LEAVE KUDOS AND COMMENTS <3


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